Whispers
by WingedWolf
Summary: Summaries are bad. Stories are good. About a female elf who has a lot to discover about herself and brings Legolas along for the ride. **COMPLETE**
1. Part One: It Begins

Disclaimer: The name and character of Legolas belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. Except for a few elven (or magic) words, everything else is mine. Names, all of it. Ain't that cool?

A/N: Second attempt at a chapter story. Keep going, or no? It already has maybe ten or eleven chapters, so if you think I should've stopped it after this chapter, guess you're shit outta luck. Uh oh, better up the rating for that. Eh, I won't tell if you won't…

Whispers

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Chapter One: In The Woods

The river flowed loudly and quickly that night as a female elf ran, clutching a baby in her arms. Her feet made no sounds as she moved along, the baby asleep and clinging to her. Her heart pounded hard within her and she felt the light of day would never touch her face again. After miles of running nonstop, weary and down-trodden, she stopped. The moon was bright and seemed to smile on the tired mother. Not long did she rest, for the sun would wake soon, and her time would be up. The world seemed to fly by as she ran in the dark. Creatures eyed her passing and looked at her receeding figure in wonderment. Ignoring them, she pressed on, her feet contouring to the ground beneath her. A large, looming castle came into view not much later. A smiled curled the elven woman's lips. Bringing the child's face to hers, she whispered,

"There you will live, my dear." The child barely stirred at these words but the woman went on. "I can give other no object other than the name I leave you with," She touched a small chain on the baby's neck. "And this: When it comes time for you to choose, choose better than I." With those last words, she fashioned a bower for the child, and left her asleep by the road. Backing away into the night, she uttered. "Sleep well, Elorelei. Remember to keep your secrets well. The world is an untrustworthy place. Trust yourself alone, my child."

__

A whisper in the dark,

a touch in the black of night

an eagle soaring high above

a young elf with a plight

a prince of many

a heart of steel

an unbreakable bond

a final seal...

"ELORELEI!" A strong voice rang out over the hills of the Eastern Valley. Minele Whitecloud, a female elf with pearly blue eyes and long, pale hair that stood true to the name of Whitecloud (though she was not a blood relation), called out once more for her daughter. Keen eyes scanned the edge of the dark green forest that grew so thick, it was impossible to see into it. The leaves of the trees and dark shrubs concealed all. Minele pursed her lips and cried again. "ELORELEI!" 

Soon, a dark-haired elf came up from the shadows of the wood. Her hair was a fair dark brown, the color of rich earth and was wrapped up and pushed behind her in a long pony tail. Her eyes were swirled with deep, pure blue and hints of green. The elf looked in her mid teens and if you didn't understand elven aging pattern, you would never think she was around four or five hundred. She could've easily been mistaken for a wood nymph as she crept up from the shade of the trees. She, being one of the few darklings or dark-haired elves, did not look like Minele's kindred at all. "I'm coming, mother!" She answered, her feet were swift and light and she effortlessly came up the hill that rolled into the trees from their castle.

Minele frowned. This was the third time in a week that her daughter had run off into the woods after being specifically told not to. Most young elves at her age were trying to learn the poise and grace that came with being an elf. Elorelei had not even bothered to try. Her voice rang in Minele's head. "_But if it comes to us naturally, why should I bother to learn it?_" As smart a remark as it was, it was true.

"I'm here," Elorelei said, finally up the hill and at her mother's side. "What deadly emergency has befallen us so that we must call Elorelei away from her-" She halted and didn't say another word.

Minele shot her a look sharper than a dart. "Yes?" She was always eager to know what her daughter did when she journeyed deep into the valley, but no one knew since no one dared to follow her. Elorelei simply replied, "Forest." Then awaited her mother's instruction. "Are you packed?" Minele said finally, guiding her into the castle.

"Yes, mother." Elorelei's used her common tone, which sounded like someone was asking her if she were okay after she had been dragged miles through mud.

Minele's eyes flashed. "I don't like your tone."

Elorelei shrugged. "You never have, you never will." She responded, which was the final straw.

"Go to your Grandfather. Perhaps he will discipline you." Minele sent Elorelei off and went to the princess's room alone, to see if her things were in order.

Elorelei walked down the halls, feeling better now, though she disliked lectures from her grandfather, she always learned something or other. In her opinion there was no wiser elf anywhere in the world. Her grandfather, Lumaeus Whitecloud, knew more about the world than anyone, and was known to many as "Lumaeus the Wise." She thought back to when she was only seventy and he had told her, "_Elorelei, you are not bound by anything or anyone but yourself. No one can tell you what you are except for you._" 

Minele was enraged that he had told an already reckless, young, independent, and on top of all that **female** elf such tales. She strongly believed that women elves should act lady-like. Elorelei strongly believed that her mother had come to the wrong kingdom and married the wrong prince. 

Felair Whitecloud had been a good prince, and indeed, was a good king. Since his father handed the kingdom over to him he had shown great leadership and skill in being a ruler. He did, however, enjoy his share of festivities. He was light-hearted, kind, and friendly, Elorelei often called him "Felly" without reprimands when she wasn't calling him "father". He had the same balance of heart Lumaeus had and the same strength of character. If Lumaeus Whitecloud was the wisest elf Elorelei had known, her father was second wisest. He had such a confident air and voice that it was nearly impossible to believe him to be wrong. Elorelei couldn't believe that he married Minele, such a firm believer in strict rules and an all-work-no-play type of world. They seemed to be on well enough terms however, and she didn't dare ask her father such a question.

Elorelei gently pushed the door of her grandfather's room open. He was sitting with his back to the door, deep in thought.

"Grandpapa?" She called innocently. He had taught her that word after his time with mortals. He liked the ring of it he said. 

Lumaeus turned around and smiled at her. "All ready to go, my dear?" He asked. His voice was thin but full of wisdom and power. During his time in the mortal realm, he had aged more than an elf should've. He now looked about fifty-six in human years. Elorelei liked the look of old on his face. It was how a grandfather should look. He had long white hair but, unlike Minele's, it was snow-white and rather shocking at first. His eyes were a deep, calm ocean blue and he had been a rather handsome elf in his age. Elorelei loved and respected him more than she thought she was capable of.

"Yes, Grandpapa," she replied, but quietly. Lumaeus looked at her sternly, but in a fond way. "Actually," She mumbled, more quiet now. "I'm not ready to go. I don't want to leave."

Lumaeus nodded wisely. "I had been thinking as much before you came here," said he, just as quiet as she had been. "You must go, I fear. It is one of those things that cannot be helped." He said sorrowfully. 

Elorelei hugged him tightly. "Are you sure, Grandfather? The place sounds so dismal. Like a school."

Lumaeus gave her a surprised look. She spoke so freely of mortal things, he almost regretted telling her his many tales. "It may seem that way at first, but you will not be there long."

"I sincerely hope not. Will they try to teach me to be a lady and such?" asked Elorelei.

He smiled. "They cannot teach you anything you don't want to learn."

Another set of wise words. "I said "try", Grandpapa."

The place they spoke of was a small castle near the Southern border. It had no name but "the Castle" and young Elves called it "_Ungwale Mar_" or "Torture House." Elven children were sent there to learn what skills they would need as full-fledged adults and then be set on the world to either return home or seek their fortunes elsewhere. Many females were taught social skills, for they would be the voices of their men. It was of Elorelei's opinion that if men wanted voices, they should open their mouths and use their own. She told this to her father when she was younger. He had smiled. "_Always the voice of reason, my little sparrow."_ With the time drawing nearer and nearer to her leaving, Elorelei found herself bound the forests she explored and extremely reluctant to part with them.

"So do not sit here and exchange words with this elder. Go, ride in your fields one last time, though they shan't miss you as much as I." Lumaeus embraced his granddaughter, then bid her leave. 

The wind blew gently over the rushing, green fields of grass around the castle. Elorelei inhaled deeply. Slowly she sensed every blade of grass that bent with the breeze, every leaf that rustled with the wind, every bird that stretched it wings to take flight. Every living, breathing thing tightly interwove with her life force. The wind blew downwind and she felt that she could very easily be swept right into it, hence her grandfather called her "Anta na Wille", or "given to fly". Her horse, Iledian, nudged her back, eager for a race across the field. Elorelei smiled, and she swung up on her back.

"Go as lightning, if you can." Iledian could. She was a tall, strong horse, with long, striding legs. She was white with a dark mane and tail and was once wildest of her herd until she met Elorelei. They'd reached an understanding when they first met. Both reckless and longing for freedom, they were instant friends and Iledian allowed no one else to ride her unless it was Elorelei's wish. Elorelei was grateful for such a strong friendship. She'd only had one like it. All other elves her age were either boys and unwilling to accept her as a girl or girls unwilling to accept her because she was wild. Acceptance, however, was not what Elorelei's main focus in life was. She wanted to know what lay beyond her home, and if it would bring her greater happiness, if possible, than she had found in her place in the royal family.

Iledian carried her past the meadow, and down into the deep corners of the valley. Trusting her horse completely, Elorelei would let her stop when Iledian herself saw fit. The world rushed by her, a blur of green and sky blue. Elorelei watched everything come into focus as Iledian slowed to a soft trot, barely denting the grass. Elorelei plucked a fruit from a tree as she passed it and looked around her, inhaling the fragrant air.

Suddenly, the horse came to a halt. Elorelei pricked her ears and dismounted. Drawing out her bow and fitting the arrow, the wood and it's inhabitants seemed to become still, understanding she needed to hear, almost. 

A leaf rustled, a twig snapped. Elorelei stopped moving. The forest waited with baited breath. Nothing stirred.

THWACK! THWACK! She had leased her arrow and drew another and fired it in sucession, then heard a small start of surprise. Elorelei drew out her knife and walked into the brush. She found a young elf that didn't look much older than she was, though he may have been. He was pinned to the trunk of a tree, two arrows through the cloth that covered his shoulders. He himself was not hurt, but Elorelei could change that very quickly. She put the blade of her knife against his throat.

"Who are you and what gave you the bright idea to spy on me?" She snarled. 

The elf's hair was long but held together by a few choice braids, he was a little bit taller than Elorelei, but not much, he was still growing. He had strong blue-grey eyes, like steel, that were right now filled with anger and fear.

"I was here first." said the elf. Elorelei didn't like that answer.

"Not what I asked you." She stated simply, and waited for his compliance, keeping the knife rock steady against his soft skin.

"I am Legolas Greenleaf, _Prince_ of West Valley, and I just wanted to see who had come so deep into the valley on horseback." Legolas tossed a look at Iledian, who was staring at him down with her fiery brown eyes.

Elorelei removed the knife and the arrows and put them carefully away. "I am Elorelei Whitecloud, Princ_ess_ of East Valley, and I don't like being watched by weird princes who leave their boundaries." She snapped, jumping on Iledian and not looking at Legolas again. 

"Then why don't you go home and practice making tea or something princess's should be doing instead of coming out here and bothering me." Legolas swore under his breath as she rode off, hoping he would never have to deal with such a girl again. He gave a sudden jerk and fell backwards as another arrow whizzed past his face and thunked into a tree trunk. A piece of paper fluttered down to his feet. Picking it up, he found it read: "_I hate tea, you sexist idiot._" Legolas wondered faintly what a "sexist" meant but he knew it was not a flattering name, whatever it was.


	2. Insults

Disclaimer: Once again, I am but a mere fanfiction writer. Spare me your lawsuits, for I am making no money from this work of fiction. I make no claim to the name or charcter of Legolas, or the elven languages, which are Mr. Tolkien's. Some magic spells are mine, but the rest belong to the genius of J.K. Rowling. Thank you…

A/N: Enough snooty disclaimer talk, read and review…

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Chapter Two: Insults

Elorelei rode back home, mind still raging at Legolas's last comment. "_Tea?_" She thought angrily as she rode through the village. "_I'd show him tea._" She prayed that her last arrow had fixed him (even though she'd used a word from a mortal's vocabulary and not an elf's) and set Iledian loose so she may graze a bit before it was time for them to leave. Iledian was going with Elorelei on her journey and would stay with her even if she were going into a pit of fire snakes. Keeping her hood up and her face down, Elorelei managed to pass through the village unnoticed. If she had been recognized, the village children would've wanted her to come and play. Though she loved tumbling around with them, Elorelei felt she'd better get home and soon.

She was right.

"Elorelei, where've you been? You're carriage will be here less than an hour!" Once again, the family servant, Maehar Silvermoon, knew exactly what was what around the castle, even if the King himself didn't.

Elorelei heaved a great sigh. "Maehar, you really need to take a rest. Maybe go down to the dale, have a nice long nap."

Maehar looked disgusted by the idea. "Your mother, Queen Minele, is expecting you to leave in proper dress-"

"I know who my mother is, she's Queen, whoopdeedo. I don't need to be told." She admired the large amout of uncaring she'd used then absorbed his other comment. "I AM properly dressed!" said Elorelei indignantly. She gestured to her outfit. A common hunting outfit, moss green and brown, with a hooded cloak. 

Maehar looked at it with dislike. "The arrival of the pupils to the Castle is a sacred event. Perhaps a dress?"

She looked Maehar squarely in his eyes. "No."

"I'm afraid it has already been chosen and you WILL wear it. Your father has consented." 

Elorelei knew her father's word was law, she couldn't disobey. Appaled and a little sickened, she stood, unable to react. 

Maehar seemed to soften. "Elihar's in your room and awaiting your company." He nearly let himself smile when her face lit up.

"Eli! He's returned?"

"Yes, but don't-"  


Maehar shook his head as he saw his words were in vain. Elorelei had sprinted off down the corridor in a silent run.

Eli smiled as he saw the running figure approach him. He knew she would probably be scolded if anyone saw her acting so openly emotional and unladylike, but he soon found he didn't care when she leapt into his open arms, smiling.

"When did you get back? I've been exploring all over but it's not the same without you." Eli had been Elorelei's only friend when she first came to be in the kingdom. They spent many hours together and had a binding friendship. Even after Eli was called away to enhance his powers as a healer. Now he had returned, but now she was leaving. Eli, who was the only son of Maehar, had long, brownish-blonde hair and a fair face. He was fifty years older than Elorelei and skilled in the ways of old healing magic, which most healers considered to be folly.

"I wanted to see you off to the castle," said Eli, his silver eyes beamed at Elorelei. 

To his great surprise, her face fell. "Ugh, this castle place brings me nothing good." She sighed. Eli made a face. "Except for you of course, Eli. But you've only come to say goodbye, haven't you?"

He nodded. "It won't be goodbye forever. I will be able to visit you, I am taking steps to becoming a member of your father's council."

Elorelei looked at him in sheer wonderment. "You, Eli? On a council?"

He rolled his eyes. "Always supportive, eh, Lori?"

"I don't want to go, is that so wrong?"

"You are to be Queen one day-"

"No, Fili may be King. I do not want the responsibility that comes with a kingdom." They spoke of Elorelei's baby brother, Filior. He was born a time after Elorelei was and would've inherited the throne. She still intended to surrender the throne to him, once he was old enough to take it. If he proved himself capable of taking it.

Eli shook his head. "Lori..."

Before he could say any more, Minele's voice reverberated off the walls of the palace.

"ELORELEI! Your carriage is here!"

Elorelei snapped her head to face Eli. "I don't want to go," she mouthed, her eyes faded into a look of helplessness. Eli sighed and gave her another hug.

"I know," he said, petting her hair. "I know."

**__**

*~*~*~*

The last of Elorelei's things were packed onto the Castle's specialized carriage. She sat on the stone steps in front of the palace doors, sulking. She wore a long, flowing, dark blue gown with a jeweled brooch. She'd utterly refused to wear high-heeled shoes and (with her father's asmued agreement) was instead wearing shimmering sandals. Eli sat with her, watching her things being put into a large compartment.

"Don't worry," said Eli, as Minele gave Elorelei a satisfied look. "You'll have some company on the trip. Usually it's two or three elves to one horse-drawn."

"Oh, wonderful." Elorelei let her voice drip with sarcasm as two more, smaller carriages came up. Out of one, stepped a small, dainty creature with long, straight blond hair. She had clear blue eyes that matched her gown perfectly, she looked at her surroundings in an unimpressed way, her eyes slit and her nose in the air.

"That is Celidia Softwind," Eli nudged Elorelei and gestured towards the fragile beauty. "She's a nobleman's daughter from the West, very skilled in making clothing and-"

"And she looks like a total prat," said Elorelei suddenly with mock surprise. 

Eli glared at her. "How about you give a description of your other guest?" He waved his hand at the other carriage and out jumped a familiar and ambitious looking face.

Elorelei slouched. "Legolas Greenleaf, primped and pampered _nosy _Prince of West Valley most likely now carrying a grudge against me."

Eli gave her a look. "What for?"

"I shot at him twice and threatened his life." She shrugged carelessly and stood up from the steps.

He sighed once more before speaking. "Will you at least try to make friends?" He begged, offering his arm, as was custom, and led her down to the others.

"I did. The spell went all wrong and I just ended up making overly-excitable shrubs." As soon as their feet touched solid ground, Iledian trotted over and nuzzled into Elorelei's shoulder. Careful **to** mess up her mane, she petted the horse and made sure Minele saw. Upon seeing Eli, Iledian made for his pockets, and he often had a treat for her.

"Here, you greedy animal." He offered up a small yellow herb and she inhaled it. "It will keep you from starving on the long walk. Not that I care." He joked. The mare nudged him in the ribs as thanks, then stood by the carriage. Elorelei winced as she saw her horse trussed up in beads and flowers, her mane combed and brushed, and decorated lavishly like a shrine.

Filior snickered as his sister approached, reminding him strongly of the snooty kinds of ladies that came into the court during on of his father's parties. He was a small elf, looking like a lot like a six year old mortal, blondish, but still shocking white, hair framed his face, embedded with sea-green eyes. Lumaeus said they came from his grandmother, but everyone seemed to look away when he said this.

"Be quiet, Filly, it won't be any fun for you either." Elorelei snapped playfully. 

Legolas immediately recognized the voice. He looked up and could not help but scowl at the sight. It was the same girl that had attacked him. He felt something should be done, but not with so many nobles and royals present. He'd get his revenge in his own way. He didn't like the way everyone seemed to be watching him, labelling him 'the mischievious young prince'.

An escort appeared from inside the carriage. "How do you ride, your highness?" He was addressing Elorelei.

She blinked dumbly at him. "Uh, mostly bareback but I will ride sidesaddle on occa- OW!" she cried as Eli's elbow connected with her ribs.

"She'll ride regularly until you reach the Glimmering Mountains. From there she may ride on horseback," said the annoyed elf, trying to ignore King Felair, who was nearly bursting at the seams with laughter.

"Ah, and you, miss?" asked the escort.

Celidia answered sharply (she was a bit peeved that she did not hold the title of "highness") that she would ride through the trip without a horse and Legolas did the same.

"You'll be home before you know it, sparrow." Felair comforted his daughter as she hugged Eli, Filior, her grandfather, Minele, and finally himself.

"Behave." Minele warned. 

Elorelei openly laughed as she climbed in the carriage. "Me? Misbehave? Wouldn't dream of it..."

Filior watched the carriage roll out of sight, wondering if his sister would be the same when she returned home.


	3. Long Trip, Short Chapter

Disclaimer: I'm not making money and I don't think you're a money-sucking lawyer, so leave me alone.

A/N: in response to WaterShadow- Irreverent… big word… she doesn't fawn over him for…. Well, she NEVER fawns over him. Thanks for the review. More reviews? Hello? Anyone else reading this? *crickets chirp* Guess not.

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Chapter Three: Long Trips Happen in Short Chapters

Legolas sat next to Celidia in the jolting box. Elorelei sat opposite them, ignoring Legolas's glowers and tossing Iledian bits of the apple she was eating out of the window. 

Celidia looked appalled. "Why do you handle the knife that way?" She asked with a sharp prick of spite and looked at the knife with dislike. It was a regular hunting knife, though Elorelei used it to cut her apple. 

She looked up at Celidia and sighed. "Do you know another way of handling a knife?" She said irritably.

"You appeared to know what you were doing when you nearly killed me with it." Legolas interjected. Celidia gave a start then looked at Elorelei in confusion and surprise.

She gave him a dirty look. "I wouldn't have killed you," She murmured, looking out of the window at Iledian and tossing her more apple. "I was just defending myself."

Celidia looked thoughtful and she kept looking at the knife as if it would attack her of it's own accord. Elorelei soon put the knife away and Legolas stared mindlessly at her, thinking of a revenge.

Much later in the trip, Elorelei was considering leaping out of the carriage and drowning herself for a bit of excitement. Legolas and Celidia were talking about all the things he could do as a prince, or rather Celidia was asking questions and batting her eyes and Legolas was answering and trying to make himself look more princely. Out of nowhere, they both fell forward onto the floor as the carriage gave a sudden halt.

"SHUT UP YOUR WINDOWS, HIGHNESS!" screamed a man that appeared in Elorelei's window, half-stunning her. She reluctantly shut it as she heard the sound of swords being drawn and bowstrings being taut. 

"Oh dear, I hope it's not a irugu." Celidia huddled close to Legolas, who became near ecstatic with such a development. 

Elorelei felt her stomach turn. "I think I'm going be sick." She moaned.

There was a horrible, loud screeching noise outside the small compartment. Unable to resist, Elorelei peeked out from between the shutters. She heard Celidia shriek but didn't acknowledge her. It was a terrific battle scene, she thought, as a guard brought his dagger into the chest of a irugu. Irugu were foul-smelling animals that walked on two legs but had the mind set of a murderous wild boar; that was as close to sentience as they would get. They roared and screamed through gnashing sharp teeth and had tusks growing out the corners of their mouths, but they were no match for the elven guards, sending arrows through the air and through the coal-black hearts of the irugus. Soon they departed, and everything was gathered up and the journey resumed. Elorelei sat back in her seat, astounded at the skill of the archers. She had been practicing with the weapon since she was able to hold a bow but she could never be that good, could she? 

Celidia crawled back into her seat, much to the disappointment of Legolas, who did the same. They were becoming rather fond of each other and Elorelei was growing rather disgusted with it. Celidia's giggling made her want to tear her ears out and seemed they would never reach a rest stop. 

It seemed ages later when the bouncing trot of the horses stopped and all was quiet. Elorelei was getting tired of hearing many ways her dress could be improved and watching Legolas smirk.

"You've reached the city of Willowglade," said a voice outside the carriage. Elorelei became still instead of fidgeting and making gagging faces and listened. "You may rest here until it's time for your journey to continue. Please follow me to the inn."

She sighed. An inn, sleep, quiet, and practice time for her archery and fighting. All these things presented themselves as promising as they rolled into the town. Willowglade, originally called Willow's Glade after a she-elf lord of the second age, was a small city, tucked away in a corner of the land. A small pocket between mountains, many willow trees were planted there and there was no place more serene. Unfortunately, Celidia was giggling again and Elorelei insisted that it be put down somewhere as a world record for the most annoying sound on the planet. 

"Why don't you be quiet?" Legolas barked, trying to keep his temper under control.

"I have been quiet and if it weren't for certain people insulting at my dress, criticizing my knife, and giggling until I feel I will suffocate myself to end the torture, I would still be being quiet." she said coolly and quickly but the small, compacted area was growing thick with tension. A sure fight may have broken out when a cheery face opened the door.

"Hello there. Welcome to... Oh dear." The elf, an innkeeper, noticed the furious glare between Legolas and Elorelei. Slowly he reached out and tapped Elorelei's arm. She narrowed her eyes at Legolas, then hopped out of the carriage.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The escort watched helplessly as Elorelei came out of her room, dressed in her usual attire. A moss green tunic, with leggings, and a brown cloak as her clothing, she headed off into the deeper parts of the glade, she wanted to explore as much as possible before the next day when they would leave. Glancing back, she saw Legolas escorting Celidia to her room. Elorelei pushed through a wall of leaves, suddenly feeling the need to throw up. Iledian came close behind her, often shaking her tail and mane to get rid of all their adornments.

Legolas watched Elorelei disappear into the forest and made a mental note to track her once he saw Celidia to her room. 

Iledian stood quietly, drinking water from a stream while Elorelei whittled something with her knife. It was exceedingly quiet except for the soft lapping of the water and the slick slicing of the knife. Elorelei was absorbed in her carvings and didn't notice. The tree she sat in was a willow, like most of the others except with stronger branches. She had chosen one of the higher branches for the privacy, then moved lower when Iledian being to neigh with worry. The knife she used was different from her previous one. It's handle was made of pure white ivory and mahogany. The blade was of an enchanted silver that Eli had brought her back from his first trip away from the valley. It was sharp and good for carving, cutting through soft wood like butter and easily snicking the flesh if not handled carefully. Elorelei had many accidents with it when she was smaller, but now she had mastered the basic skill of it and it served as good as any weapon. When she was done, Iledian neighed and reared back on her haunches, inviting her to come down. Swinging down, Elorelei blew on her new pipe, it made a clear ringing sound like wind through caves. On the side she had carved _iirima lidele_ for "beautiful music". Elorelei put her knife and pipe in her pockets, then went to clear up the shavings when someone knocked her flat on her back.


	4. Magic

Disclaimer: I'm watching Jay Leno, go away.

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Chapter Four: Magic

It was Legolas. He looked triumphantly over his fallen foe and was about to laugh in her face when two feet connected with his ribs. Stumbling back, and clutching his stomach, Legolas tried to regroup in time, having had the wind knocked out of him, but Elorelei moved swiftly. He found himself on the ground, arms lifted to protect himself from her blows. As soon as he saw an opening, he lunged for her, hitting her backwards and they both toppled into the stream. 

Iledian pranced back and forth in distress as the two elves fought, water flying everywhere. She turned on her tail and ran off towards the village. Too caught up to notice, Elorelei lunged at Legolas again, who side-stepped her, shoving her harder into the stony stream bottom. Before he could take off, she caught his ankles with her legs and he smacked into the water again.

"Stop that! STOP THAT!" shouted a far off voice. Legolas stood up but Elorelei shoved him down again. "STOP IT! **_STOP_** IT!" The voice was closer but the anger was still coursing through the veins of the fighters. Legolas wrapped his arm around her throat and briefly thought he'd win before her elbow slammed into his stomach. Another shove followed by a tackle. "**_YOU TWO STOP IT RIGHT NOW!_**" A strong arm wrenched them apart, both dripping wet with some part of their faces swollen and some part of their body bruised. 

The elf was limber but his arms were amazingly powerful. He glared at Legolas then at Elorelei before his eyes widened. "A princess? A princess fighting like a commoner?"

She smiled. Elorelei had seen commoners fight and took that as a great compliment.

"Well... You two come with me... A princess, indeed... Are you from the North?" The elf asked, Elorelei almost blushed at the comparision. He held Legolas stiffly by his upper arm but Elorelei not so much. 

They reached town in a short while and recieved as many stares as the elves had eyes. Two sopping wet royals, one a princess, glaring at each other with a tall elf with strong, veiny arms holding them apart and a white horse that had beads and flowers fairly dropping off it's mane and tail trotting along behind them all.

"Well, aren't we the travelling freak show?" mused Elorelei. She recieved blank stares all around. "Would it kill you people to learn a mortal word or two?"

**__**

*~*~*~*

Celidia peered out through her doorway. She heard shouting coming from the private room, one door over. Insanely curious, she leaned in closer and peeked into the door. 

"I just caught them! Fighting like warlocks and witches in the stream out there!" said a strong-armed elf. He was looking at another elf, this one was on the plumper side and was staring down at the two. Elorelei's hair had stayed tied back but looked as if it would explode at any second. Legolas's smooth hair did quite the opposite and clung tightly to his face and neck.

"Fighting, Jayik?" The plump one said. Legolas tried to repress a laugh and failed utterly.

"Do you think my name is funny?" asked Jayik defensively, his arms and hands were more powerful than they looked, and they looked like they could crush a skull. Legolas stopped laughing at once. Elorelei successfully repressed her snort of satisfaction and waited for their punishment to be decided while, unknown to them all, Celidia looked on. 

She only caught snatches of conversation after that.

"Whitecloud?"

"Yes... Lumaeus the Wise... granddaughter..."

"Prince.... West... both.... punish..."

Celidia waited for more but now the grown elves were wrapping up the issue. She crept back into her room.

"THAT'S our punishment?" Elorelei blinked. The plump elf and Jayik Suntinwe (called Jay by some, but I'm going to call him Jayik cuz I feel like it) had settled on a punishment. The two were not permitted to speak, look at, or talk to each other until they were on the carriage the next day. Legolas mumbled quietly that it was more of a reward than a punishment. Elorelei mumbled that she grudgingly agreed, followed by something very rude. Jayik grabbed Legolas by his arms again before he could get to Elorelei, who snickered and stood up. The plumper elf led her away, grumbling about over-excitable children.

That evening, a dinner was held in celebration of the three going to the renowned Castle. No one appeared to notice Elorelei trying in vain to murder her food and Celidia scooting as close to Legolas as her chair would go. Jayik had placed her in between the royals in hopes of preventing an argument. Celidia, however, was encouraging them to argue, making remarks on Elorelei's dress (since that seemed to be the only thing Celidia could insult about her) and then asking Legolas's opinion.

"It's such a drab dress after all. Blue is not fashionable for Princess's these days." She remarked carelessly, touching Legolas's arm and giggling (again...). He smiled at her. She kept on. "Also, what does it show of the talents one posesses? Surely not color sense. And her grandfather is called "the Wise"? Ridiculous." 

Legolas did not smile at this. It was an dishonorable thing to insult royal blood in the presence of the heirs and relations. It was their duty to defend the family member but he didn't say so to Elorelei, who winced as Celidia said this about Lumaeus. Her face expressionless and as calm as an ocean, Elorelei poked at her food.

It had several holes in it before she spoke.

"I can do magic." she said abruptly. 

Jayik, sitting on her right, turned to look at her. "Really?" Celidia tried to keep her conversation going with the Prince, but she was interested as well. "What kind of magic?" he asked again.

"Real magic," came the monotone answer. Elorelei heard a giggle to her left and jabbed her food once more, twisting it with the utensil and imagining Celidia's face there.

Jayik was incredibly curious. "Let's see some then." Everything stopped. The sound of silver chinking against the plates of the eaters filled the hall before all was silent. Most Elven magic was widely regarded as the "healing" magic, but even without knowing the bad temper of the Princess, they knew it would hardly have anything to do with healing.

Elorelei looked at her plate. "Bring me something. Something thick." She stated calmly. Jay snapped his fingers and a servant came in, bearing a large hunk of meat. "Try to cut it." She handed him a long knife and he began to saw through it with much difficulty. 

Sighing, he pulled his hand away, the meat was just too thick. The room held it's breath. "_Consecio._" Came the low, hissing voice of Elorelei. The meat began slicing into pieces. It was as if someone has rushed in and attacked it with a super sharp machete. Everyone watched as the meat diced away into smaller and smaller pieces. With every slice the face of Elorelei grew more angry and terrible until it finally subsided into calm and confidence again. Celidia was quaking and white and it was all over and Legolas could do very little to keep from becoming the same way. 

The display was not done yet. No one said a single word as Elorelei whispered more words and the meat seperated itself into small heaps. The platter of copper they were seated on floated up into the air. More words from Elorelei. "_Inflamare_." The meat cooked and sizzled before their eyes, suspended in air. With these actions, a peace seemed to come over Elorelei and she put out the fire and set the plate back down with relish in her eyes. A small smattering of claps came and soon the table had erupted into tumultuous applause.

"Take this, season it and serve it. I have done no harm to it... sort of." said Elorelei, happy to admit she felt a lot better. She turned to Celidia and gave her an unspoken warning. 

"_Insult my family, and I can do worse... I will do worse._" said an invisible voice that echoed through Celidia's mind. It might as well have been said out loud, the look on Elorelei's face was read so plainly; anyone could see it. Even Legolas, thinking back on how she had fought on the stream. If he had known she could to that to him, he wouldn't have come within a mile of her. From then on, he may not have liked her, but Legolas held a certain respect for the Princess of East Valley.

"Well," Elorelei smiled after the table had quieted into pure silence. "Anyone else have an opinion on my family?" she asked cheerfully. Everyone launched into praises, Celidia's voice lost amongst the noise.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The three tired nobles awoke the next morning to a soft flute-sound playing on a breeze. Elorelei rolled over on her comfortable bed and slammed the pillow over her ears. The sun was not yet visible in the sky. Legolas stretched his arms wide before looking for a proper tunic. He had always been a morning elf and was happily exploring before the sun peeked over to have a look at the day. Celidia spent half of her morning brushing and combing her hair. She momentarily forgot about the dinner that previous evening but remebered immediately when she saw Elorelei in the hall way, playing a tune on her pipe.

Legolas came back late in the morning. The sun was beaming on the village and somewhere lively music weas playing. He was reminded strongly of his home and wished he were there now, running through the forests, alone and happy. Celidia was waiting by the carriage, frowning at something and muttering under her breath. He saw Jayik, waiting alonger their means of transportation, a smile on his lips.

"Are you quite done?" He asked jovially.

"Oh, one more song!" a clear voice rang and pipe struck up a tune, but it stopped as Jayik approached. Elorelei was playing on the same wood pipe she had made on the day when Legolas attacked her. Some village children were crowded around her and she was playing every song she knew and playing along with some others she didn't. The children looked sadly at her as she followed Jayik to the carriage and climbed in. 

The strong elf took his place at the head of the small caravan of luggage carriages, fancy horses, and a the small carriages that held the soon-to-be students.

"Ah, so you are going, too, Jay?" said an older elf. He had a faded look about him and Elorelei wondered if that was Jayik's father.

"It is a perfect oppurtunity to find work. And besides, they need all the help they can get, especially with that one." Jayik smirked at the princess. The faded elf looked at Elorelei and she offered him a somewhat rare smile. 

One of the children actually burst into sobs that Jayik was leaving, but quieted when Elorelei began playing a calming tune on her pipe. Legolas did not fail to notice Celidia rolling her eyes.
    
    The children waved and sang goodbyes to Jayik and then skipped off into the heart of the village, the embodiment of youth and innocence, resembling a purity that they all felt they would never see the likes of again.


	5. A Crappy Song

Disclaimer: I'm thirsty, not making money off of Legolas's name… wish I was… would be wealthy…

****

Chapter Five: A Crappy Song

The familiar, trouncing gait of the carriage was back. Elorelei gazed longingly out the window and kept tightening the hold of the hair tie on her brown-black locks. She never let it down, never. No one saw when it was like that, unhindered and long. It almost frightened her the first time she noticed it had grown so untamed, so unruly. Since then she kept it tied back so that it looked straight and sleek. Most people thought it grew that way. She didn't know why she was so uncomfortable with her hair being seen the way it really was, but hair was not on her mind at the moment. Celidia was looking down her nose at her, as she so often did, but this time Legolas did not add his personalized smirk. 

As always, Celidia sparked conversation with him. Elorelei, desperate to make that annoying, high, grating voice stop clawing at her ear drums, picked up her pipe and began to play. Legolas didn't recognize it at first, but slowly it came to him, and he began to sing.

"_A place that is cold, and dark in the light,_

a home in the wilderness, calling for night.

No hearth or home can yet explain,

that place in the dark, where Norsadil met his bane."

Elorelei kept playing, Legolas's voice ringing with her pipe. Very few knew this song, as it was a rather untold story.

"_Friend of the giants, foe to the dwarves,_

Norsadil journeyed far, to where Nauko now carves.

Dwarf by his father, great Musiorn

Norsadil left his own people for more.

Befriending the giants, he lived in their caves,

He raised their children, and tended their graves

when the dwarf lords raised their voices in hate

They asked him at once to consider his fate.

Giants, unloyal, would betray him they said

Norsadil cursed them, and stayed at his stead.

But the giants trusted him yet no more

they accused him of bringing them into a war.

Cast out and alone, Norsadil left the caves

No longer accepted by the giants home that he craved.

Into the woods, he discovered a home

Near the waters of Imlad, where dwarves doth not roam.

Many years he stayed, far from the world.

His heart ruthlessly broken, his life unfurled.

There, a great evil had at once found him

and offered to give him his every wish and whim.

That was his downfall, many had said.

And now few others walk in his stead.

The evil consumed him, and ruined his life

Never once bringing him anything not of strife.

And so there he died, his heart blackened by pain

Few talk of him now, or how he was slain.

Pernauko, his nephew, his only living kin

Vows to live in the dark, fight the evil and win.

Pernauko, a dwarf, lives deep in the place

Few see him at all, or pity his case

The evil that lurked may still be there now

but Pernauko is watchful, and lives by his vow."

Legolas closed the song, as he didn't remember if there was anymore of it, and stared at Elorelei. She was smiling widely at him. 

"How did you know of Norsadil?" he asked, looking confused but a little pleased.

"My grandfather." was the murmured response. Then quiet. Celedia decided after that (to the delight of Elorelei) to sit silently in her corner.

Outside the carriage compartment, Jayik smirked to himself. "_They had to find some way to get along._" And the unsteady, bouncing gait went on.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The Glimmering Mountains. Opal mines of great extent. They practically blinded travellers when the light hit them in that perfect way. The three mountains, named Yaaran, Vanyan, Rilya, (Yaaran being the tallest and most ancient) stood proudly, throwing their faces to the sun and allowing their sheer cliffs and sides to shine brightly.

At the first sign of a reflected beam of blue, purplish, green light, Elorelei threw open her window and gazed up. Immediately, she looked back down and pulled her head in, clutching her eyes.

"I'm blind! BLIND! OW!" After she'd settled down, the carriage came to a stop again. The three heard the sounds of approaching feet, taking soft but strong footsteps. _"Jay."_ Elorelei thought.

"I believe one of his majesties wishes to ride?" A second later, Jayik's fair face appeared in the doorway. "Let me guess, it's Elorelei, warrior princess?"

She rolled her eyes. "Your intuition astounds me." She said, hopping out and found several elves gathered around, trying to saddle Iledian. Carelessly, she strolled over. 

Iledian neighed, backed up, and flailed her legs at the horse caretakers. When it was said that no one could ride her but Elorelei, it also applied to bridling and saddling. As soon as the mare saw men coming toward her with the bridle and saddle, she got agitated. Now she was nearing irate with Elorelei barely able to calm her.

"Perhaps I should've told you," said Elorelei, easily slipping the saddle on her horse's back. The horseman elves (because that's what I'm going to call them) gave her a sour look. "She'll most likely kick you from here to the Far North if you come within ten feet of her bearing a bridle."

Moments later, Elorelei was riding comfortably on Iledian, letting the afternoon breeze caress her face but making sure her hair was tied back well. Legolas had taken her seat and called to her from the window.

"How the weather out there?"

"A lot more pleasant than it was shut up in that stuffy place." came her response. Legolas mimicked her rolling of the eyes, despite himself.

Suddenly, Iledian began to walk faster, and somehow, more quietly. Elorelei seemed to understand this reaction and a fear came into her eyes. Legolas felt a lump well up in his throat and began to look out the window more. She mouthed to him to shut the window, then Iledian backed out of view.

"Jay." Elorelei's voice was a whisper as Iledian cantered next to the front of the carriage. "Irugus. Iledian can sense them. They're near."

Jayik responded by sighing and nearly laughing. "There are no irugus this close the Glimmering Mountains." He said in a surefire voice, then his keen eyes fell upon what was in her hand. "Where did you get that bow? Put it back, the archers will have a fit." He was surprised. It was all but forbidden for women to learn archery. They were trained in all aspects of fighting in the North and sometimes in the East, but when it came to archery, the closest they got was a crossbow. 

Elorelei frowned. "It's _my_ bow, and we are _not_ PAST the Glimmering Mountains yet. There may very well be- DUCK!" She barely had time to pull his head down as an arrow appeared where Jayik's head was.

"Okay, there may be a few irugus." He cursed under his breath then fitted his bow. And another battle began. Unfortunately, Elorelei found herself right in the middle of it.

Everything went by so fast, Elorelei simply couldn't understand why everyone was staring at her when it was all over. Several dead irugus lay at her feet, she hadn't slain nearly as many as the other archers, but all the same... Silently, she salvaged her arrows, marked by the silver feathers on the tip. Her palms were shaking, battle scenes still flying by through her head. Teeth, arrows, her knife. It was covered in black-blue blood of the irugu. Iledian neighed uncomfortably and nudged for Elorelei to get on her back, but the archers insisted (in quiet voices) that she get back in the chariot. Elorelei had no choice but to agree (not that she wanted to stay outside after that) and go back inside the carriage. It felt strangely safe in there, but seconds later she found herself longing to be outside again. Her first battle, and though it would be hard, it would not be her last. The song of battle was enchanting to her and she wanted to learn it, at all costs.


	6. Jayik's New Job

Disclaimer: Cheese is good. ß Do I sound like a person who's intelligent enough to accept the credit for Legolas?

****

Chapter Six: Jayik's New Job

"Rain," said Elorelei dully. "Rain. They dress me up so that I look like a froompy-"

"Froompy is not a word." Legolas immediately corrected her.

"It is now. They dress me up like I'm some sort of FROOMPY prissy primpy princess, and it rains."

The moment that Elorelei had put on the favored dress for the occasion, rain began flooding down in torrents. Better still, Legolas questioned her endlessly about the battle, but she had been so reluctant to speak at first. Now she was merely irritated.

"Did you kill any?" Legolas asked, straightening his dress tunic.

Elorelei finished tying a belt around her middle and glared up at Legolas. "For the eighth time, YES." She didn't really feel like talking about it, what it was like to take something's life. It made her feel so powerful, but so weak. So evil. She shuddered. If she was to be a warrior (and that was her intent) she would have to overcome that. "Does your father mean for you to train as a fighter?" She asked Legolas a question for the first time. 

He looked at the floor, thinking deeply. "Yes." He gave a simple one word answer and said nothing else. 

Elorelei, not having the patience to pry answers from him, went out onto a small, over-shadowed balcony. They were resting in another inn not far from the Castle. Rain struck the windows and rattled the walls and the wind bellowed like some great beast. She saw the Castle, grey and ominous, staring through the bleakness with its blank windows serving for eyes. She gazed back at it, knowing that if you stare into the abyss, the abyss also stares into you. Not that she minded. The wind howled and the rain thundered some more, hoping to sway her thoughts that she was now lost in.

All her life, Elorelei knew only one home. "_The Castle will not be my home. I have a home._" She thought to herself. The storm screamed outside, and she finally turned to go in. Jayik was waiting.

"Come, there is a sheltered path to the Castle. Hopefully, you will make it there dry enough for the ball."

Elorelei froze, and she knew Legolas had, too. "Ball?"

Jayik nodded. "Yes, you know, ball? Dancing? Why do you think you were instructed to wear such a lavish dress?"

Legolas gulped.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Jayik, PLEASE. Just let me leave."

"You're to stay through the whole thing, whether you dance-"

"I will not."

"Very well, but you're still staying." Jayik said firmly. 

Elorelei had been pleading with him for the past hour. Legolas at least made an attempt and practically trampled Celidia's feet. He looked hopelessly at Elorelei and she looked hopelessly back. She knew how to dance, of course, Minele had seen to that. Yet, as the expression goes, '_You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink._' As long as she drew breath, Elorelei made a point of it not to dance in front of anyone, or let anyone know she could dance. Even now, with so many people, she wouldn't budge from a corner she had parked herself in.

Jayik had tried to talk her into it. "Oh, just go out there for a little bit. Legolas could use a partner while Celidia is healing her toes. Since you two are such good friends now- OW!" At that point, Elorelei's fist had connected with his kidney, and he since then suggested no more.

It seemed the dancing would never end and Jayik's stomach rumbled like the storm outside. He hoped the time to eat was not far off. Elorelei had fallen asleep in a corner and only awoke when Legolas came to talk to her about the Castle. She was surprised that he knew so much when her family had hardly bothered to tell her anything.

"What classes are you going to take?" asked Legolas, his stomach aching when the orchestra struck up another waltz.

Elorelei looked like she wanted desperately to eat the thing nearest her. "Cuisine," She replied, her attention steadied on the door to the kitchens. "So next time I want a meal, I can make my own." The chef kept popping in and out of the room, counting things, then leaving in the most irritating manner.

"I was being serious." The prince huffed.

Elorelei sighed. "Fine, if you must know, archery, weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, survival skills, and the, ugh, usual courses."

Legolas knew exactly what she meant by 'usual courses'. If you were a male coming to the Castle, you had free choice for all of your classes except for Elven History. On the other hand, females were required to take certain things. Usually they took History, they had a choice of three out of five classes, cloth-making, cooking, social skills, ceramics, and gardening. "A woman's pride is her garden." Minele used to say. Elorelei felt sorry for Minele's pride, because Minele hardly did anything in her garden at all. The chef came out, counted more things, then went back in.

Legolas moved over to give Elorelei some space while she ground her teeth and hissed, "If that overweight idiot cooking fool doesn't get out here and announce dinner this very second, I will curse him into the next age."

Legolas wasn't entirely sure if she was joking. He glanced worriedly at Jayik, but Jayik's attention was elsewhere. A female elf was talking with him and Jayik appeared very engaged in the conversation. Actually, he looked like he'd been struck over the head with a happy stick. The other elf was merely talking, oblivious to the fact that he was gazing longingly at her. She was very fair, with long reddish blonde locks, let down over her shoulders and over her great green eyes. Legolas was enraptured. She talked happily with Jayik, as if she were speaking to an old friend. Her voice was melodious and her entire aura was well-meaning, womanly, and good. 

Elorelei was immediately repelled from her. "I hope she's not a teacher of any of my classes, or we will NOT get along."

Legolas furtively agreed. Elorelei didn't look like the elven woman's exact opposite at first, but after a closer look, she did. Elorelei was boyish and sarcastic and, on occasion, downright mean. The elven woman hardly looked any of those things. After watching the conversation for twenty minutes and ignoring his stomach, Legolas turned back to face Elorelei but she had leapt up and was walking steadily toward the kitchens, the head chef within her eagle-eye stare. Seconds later the feast was announced. 

**__**

*~*~*~*

Legolas wanted to eat. He was psychotically hungry. His stomach was in a rage and his mouth watered relentlessly, but he couldn't eat. Not with the eating machine that was to the right of him. He's never seen a princess inhale food like that. Elorelei downed everything that was within her reach. Asking her "are you done with that?" was out of the question. The food would be gone before you could finish the statement.

She looked up at Legolas. Despite how she ate, there wasn't a crumb or smudge on her face. Legolas looked dumbstruck. "Eat," she said simply. "or I will eat for you." And she went back to vacuuming in her food.

Legolas looked around the table, eating as fast as he could without looking like an animal, or worse, like Elorelei. Jayik was sitting next to the pretty elf, still talking with her, but this time not with goggling eyes. She seemed to be asking him something, but Legolas could not make out her words. Instead, he turned his attention back to his food. Celidia was across from him, staring with anger at Elorelei, who was ignoring her totally.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Hey, guess what?" Jayik ran up to Elorelei, beaming about something.

She responded with the usual scathing remark. "Who put the springs under your shoes?"

"I'm teaching here now," said Jayik proudly. "I talked to-"

"You mean drooled over." Elorelei interjected.

He ignored her and went on. "An elf that works here and she said they were looking for an assistant in the archery department. She got me the job!"

"Oh, joy." Was the reply. Though she truly was happy for him, Elorelei felt she needed to find somewhere to sit down and rest. Eating was very tiring, but she caught the hurt look on his face. "I'm happy for you, Jay, but I've eaten so much food, I'm about to explode on the spot." Stomach aching, she crawled to the hall, looking for the way to her room. Passing through a series of corridors, and not really going anywhere, Elorelei found her room by accident. She was looking for the bathroom, opened a door, and saw a small room with a series of doorways, names above each one. She read each one carefully until she found hers. 'Niqueran, Junita, Elorelei, and Fawneya' The door read. _"At least they sound interesting."_ was Elorelei's last thought before she stepped through the door, found a bed, and slept.


	7. Points of Authority

Disclaimer: The Justice League on cartoon networks is a good show…

****

Chapter Seven: Points of Authority
    
    Giggling. The first noise heard in the small hours of the morning. Elorelei kept her eyes tightly shut; this was not a good sign. The giggling subsided and became gentle talking and Elorelei rolled over, falling back into sleep. When she finally awoke she saw a small piece of parchment on her bed. There was very large, loopy writing on it, and she sat up to read it.
    

Your Royal Highness of The East, Elorelei Whitecloud, we present to you your schedule while you remain with us at The Castle. Please note, your majesty, that all time after the required classes will be devoted to signing up for electives. As a future queen, we recommend cloth design, advanced cloth making, and social skills. Your required classes are as follows:

Eight 'o clock: Breakfast

Nine 'o clock: Ceramics- Martius Brownthatch

Ten fifteen: Cooking- Elidella Highbird

Eleven thirty: Elven History- Mirana Graceheart

Twelve thirty: Luncheon

One fifteen: 

Two thirty:

Three forty-five:

Five 'o clock: Dinner

Please fill in the other classes as your schedule is formed, highness. Thank you.

"Social skills?" asked Elorelei aloud, thinking there was no one around. "What are those?"

"You'd do good to learn some." said a high-and-mighty sounding voice.

__

"Oh, isn't this wonderful?" Elorelei rolled her eyes towards the heavens, as it was her favorite pasttime, not at all in the mood. She turned around to find three elves, their hair long and the color of fresh straw, blue or grey eyes each one had. "And a pleasant good morning to you to, as well." She spoke to the tallest of the them. Her hair was longest, being almost down to her waist, and her eyes held a clear gleam of spite. Elorelei hardly noticed, she was used to being envied for her royal blood. She never let those people bother her, she knew who she was. 

"I am Niqueran. You probably saw my name on the door. There's a reason it's the first name there, in case you-"

Elorelei shoved through her many trunks, looking for her tunics, barely acknowledging what's-her-face. "Yeah, that's nice. Can we save the 'I'm-so-much-better-than-you-even-if-you-are-a-princess' chitty chat for later?" She pulled out a semi-comfortable tunic, not caring about dress codes.

Niqueran was not to be brushed aside that easily. "I think not, you'll want to pay attention. I think you'll find that everyone in this room answers to me and-"

Elorelei snorted. "It is painstakingly obvious, Niqueran was it? That I don't care at all WHAT you think, assuming that you actually think. I don't answer to _anyone_, much less an imbecile such as yourself, and I don't give anyone more attention than they are worth. So far, your attention is worth nothing but it a disgusting waste of my time."

Niqueran twitched slightly, then covered it with a forced smile. "Verbal abuse is nothing. Lucky for you fighting is unladylike."

The Princess openly laughed at her. "I'm **sure** that's why you don't do it," She sneered and gathered up her schedule, weapons, and notebooks. "Have a nice day, and do remember: I have no problem with fighting if you ever have a death wish."

The door to the dressing room clicked shut and the other two elves, forgotten in the corner, began to giggle. Niqueran rounded on them. "Funny, is it?"

Junita, Niqueran's unfortunate twin sister, choked down her last laugh. "I suppose you've finally met your match, Niqi. It's really very funny."

Fawneya (called Fawny), was the peaceful one. She withheld her laughter and tried to get the rest of them ready. "We have classes too, you know."

Niqueran barely heard her. Elorelei came form the dressing room, wearing her tunic and walked right out the room without a backward glance.

"Let's play, then," Muttered the spiteful girl, and she went to prepare for the day.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei was not looking forward to her breakfast. A large hall full of noisy elves, talking about stuff she didn't care to hear. Stealing some fruit from the kitchen, she crept outside, hoping no one would see. She was almost homefree when-

"Just WHERE do you think you're going?"

But she knew the voice too well to be surprised. "Outside, Jay_ik_. Emphasis on **ik**. Stop stalking me," said Elorelei, climbing up a nearby tree just to put more distance between her and the Castle.

"What's in the bag?"

"Inquisitive today, aren't we?"

Jayik smiled. "It's the first day, aren't you nervous?" He got a shrug in response. "Not even a little?"

"What do I have to be nervous about? I've studied in all the weapons for the weaponry class, I know how to fight, and my archery is very good for my age. There's nothing to be nervous over." She noticed Jayik's twitch when she mentioned her archery.

"About that archery," He began.

"You won't talk me out of it, Jay. I'm taking archery if I have to bring down the whole of the Valley."

Jayik's eyes settled on her bag. Following them, Elorelei pulled out her bow. She realized the elf had never had a very good look at it, which was a shame, for it was a magnificent bow. Inhaling, she recited everything her grandfather had told her about the weapon. "The bow is made of a mystical oak from deep in the forests of the South, rarely grown anymore. The string from the tail hair of the descendant of the unicorn that was the servant of King Haloc. My grandfather used this bow when he fought in the battle of Tiramourge. It was passed onto me after I was born." 

Jayik's jaw was nearly brushing the ground. He looked for something to say but words seemed to have failed him. "That... that bow is legendary... you... you just... just carry it?"

Elorelei grinned. "Of course not. I'm not stupid. This is only my practice bow." Jayik visibly slumped. "The real bow is locked away, a few spells and enchantments on it."

"You're a horrible immortal, Elorelei, you know that?"

"Oh, stop it, you're making me blush." Which was really ridiculous, because she hadn't blushed in one hundred years.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei walked into her History class with a smirk on her face. Her first two classes had been very successful in the way that Elorelei escaped them without a punishment. Considering some of the comments that had slipped from her mouth, that was a great feat. She found a comfortable seat near the door, (first row, second back) and pulled out her history book, waiting for her latest victim, er, teacher. Legolas stumbled into the classroom, his arms ached from his first class, weight training. He quickly found a seat near the front of the class, making sure he had everything, he had been waiting for this class all day. Elorelei made small sounds next to him, something like witholding a laugh. Sometimes, she faltered and giggled but soon she drew it in again. Legolas glared at her, but he was not the only one. Most of the boys in the class had their books out and were focusing on the door with rapt attention. The more Elorelei laughed, the more of them glared. The other girls in the class remained confused.

The door finally opened. "Hello, class," said a melodious voice. A beautiful elf woman had entered. Her hair was tied back in the old fashion, and she had reddish blonde hair. Elorelei could've sworn she heard all the boys sigh, dreamily. It was the same elf from the party.

Mirana Graceheart.

"Today we will begin with first rule of King Yuilar the Third... blah... blah... blah..." Mirana was not the most animated teacher but every male elf was watching her with the very fabric of their being. Not that they heard a single word she said.

Elorelei nodded off somewhere around the first law made in the land that had something to do with rivers. She was dozing lazily, dreaming about being outside, doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wished. Suddenly, she heard a loud coughing sound in the middle of her perfect dream. She lazily lifted her eyes open.

"Ahem, Princess Elorelei, do you want to sleep, or do you want to learn about the First War Movement?" Mirana was hovering near Elorelei's desk, staring down at her, but still speaking in the same pleasant voice. 

Elorelei, though she was not very tall, did not like being stared down at. "I want to sleep, just like everyone else who's asleep." She waved at the boys looking dreamily at the sky and other girls who's heads were buried in their arms. Some were even snoring, but Ms. Graceheart seemed intent on Elorelei. The dark-haired princess huffed, seeing she was not to be rid of the teacher that easily. "Honestly, I couldn't really care less about the First War Movement where King Yuilar's brother, Jiriha, seized Yuilar's Western lands and claimed them for his own and Yuilar returned by forming two other countries, the South and the North, to overthrow his brother." she snapped. This lesson was child's play. Was this teacher actually naive enough to think a Princess hadn't already been educated in the times of the Early Years?

The annoyed teacher folded her arms and gazed crossly at the smart-mouthed royal. "Just because you are a princess, does not mean you may speak your mind whenever you wish." 

"Well, too bad, I have a mind and I will exercise the right to speak it at will." The response came sharply.

"Now, now, it's unladylike to lose your temper." Mirana returned, her kind voice getting angry.

"I am not a lady, thank you. I am a princess and when I lose my temper, I don't try to find it right away." This caused many to rouse from their daydreams and a few to wake up and watch the display.

"You are pushing it, your highness!" 

"Now, now, it's unladylike to lose your temper." Elorelei sneered back.

Mirana threw the door open. "Go see the Headmaster, now!"

Elorelei happily skipped from the room. "_What a fun time this class will be._"

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Did you really have to do that to her? On our first day?" Legolas was angry with Elorelei for making 'poor Ms. Graceheart' upset.

"She singled me out first. I defended myself. So excuse me for not weeping like a starving child because I hurt the teacher's feelings. Boohoo." It was the break between the fifth and sixth class time and Elorelei had somewhat of a trying time with Jayik. He'd told her many times she could not take archery, and she had ignored him every single time. She was easily signed up for the weaponry course (there were two other female elves in that class), but practically had to scream her way into the survival skills course, which was mainly outdoors. 

She walked with Legolas to the archery field but sat away from him while they awaited the teacher. As usual, she leaned against a tree trunk and began to think. A few other elves began laughing at her, but Legolas strongly advised them against that. Finally, the teacher arrived, Jayik at his side. He was a tall, lean looking elf. His arms did not show the look of strength that Jayik's did, but they were immense, to say the least. His hair was long and bright gold, like mostly everyone else's. Elorelei's dark hair stood out almost everywhere she went, so the teacher's eye immediately fell upon her.

"You are," the teacher hesitated, made unsure by her use of a tunic and not a dress. "You have a message for me, young one?"

Jayik snorted, but Elorelei smiled. "Indeed, I do." Her grin grew broader as she saw the large elf's look of relief. "May I have your name, sir?"

"Of course, young one, I am Professor Rilar Curtail. What is your message?" asked Rilar.

"My message is "You now have a female student." And judging by that look on your face, you have not had one before." Elorelei pulled out her bow and her quiver to show her sincerity.

Rilar swallowed and looked at Jayik, receiveing only a shrug. "I think I will not have one now," Legolas noticed the teacher's voice was very dry. "This is not a class where you learn to shoot," Impressively, he whipped out an arrow, fitted it, and shot it straight into a bullseye on a near target. "In this class, you learn how to mark and hit."

The other boys broke out into a applause and there came a faint laugh. Jayik turned away, but Legolas watched. Though, he searched for a place to hide in case Elorelei chose to play dirty. 

She did not, but stood there, waiting for it all to die down. One elf even dared to call out, "Go off to your sewing, Princess!"

Now, all was quiet, waiting for her reaction. "If that is the case," she began, drawing an arrow and set it against the string. "If that _is_ the case..." She leased her arrow and smirked. There were loud sounds of splitting wood. Rilar swallowed. She had split his arrow directly down the middle. "Then perhaps I should be teaching your class." The elf that had called out stepped back from her, but she fired an arrow and pinned him to the trunk of a tree, much like she had done to Legolas once. "YOU, boy, will learn to hold your tongue unless you wish to find it pierced by my arrow... or my dagger, if I am particularly vengeful."

Jayik burst into fits of laughter and Legolas was giving everyone an I-told-you-so sort of look. Rilar felt his heart sink. He was teaching a female, whether he wanted to or not.


	8. Invincible

Disclaimer: I don't OWN Legolas leave me ALONE! I own everything else, yeah, SHIBBY!

****

Chapter Eight: Invincible

Another night came upon the Castle, The pupils hadn't been there two weeks and the teachers had given work to do outside of class. They were told to do it in their dormitories, but Elorelei had had a problem with that.

Her history book lay splayed out upon her bed, and a two-foot essay on the writings of Grand Duchess something-or-other was due in two days. Knowing fully well that Legolas would wait until the very last day to do his, Elorelei had writen a foot the night it was assigned and was just finishing up so that she could brag in the Prince's face while he complained. While that wasn't one of the nicer things they said to each other, it was a change from indifference they both expressed at times.

The last foot completed, Elorelei rolled up her paper only to have it snatched from her by Niqueran's long fingers.

"I'll just copy this, Graceheart has been on me since the term started," snarled the girl, taking it over to her bed. 

Elorelei sat back calmly, but inside she was burning. It was suicide to touch her things. "_Accio History report_." Her calmness carrying a deadly edge. The report flew from Niqueran's hands and to Elorelei's bed. "_Inflamare Oribisa_." More words that were cold and hateful. A ring of fire sprung up at Niqueran's heels. It's flames roared and crackles, beating the ceiling and enclosing it's victim. The elf let loose a terrible, desperate cry while Junita and Fawneya looked on, helpless. Burns were beginning to form on the elf's fair skin and dress when Elorelei finally muttered the countercurse. All traces of the fire disappeared. It was if nothing had happened at all.

"A trick," gasped Niqueran. "An illusion to make me believe in the fire."

"I needed no illusion to make you believe that fire, it was real." Nodding at her, Junita looked and saw the ashes left on the dress. Black shiny burns speckled Niqueran's fair skin. Elorelei gathered her things. "I'll just complete my days work outside, if it's all the same to you, allright?" Narrowing her eyes, she added, "Do not touch my things, or you will suffer more greatly than you can ever imagine..."

**__**

*~*~*~*

The night was quiet while Elorelei left the grounds. No one would follow her tonight, she thought, it was too late and no one was awake, probably.

She carefully pushed branched from her path and stole deeper into the forest. It was ten minutes later when she found what she wanted. A soft clearing, ringed with trees, over-looking a river. The water made a gentle swishing sound and Elorelei comfortably settled herself on a higher branch. A tune came to her head and she very faintly hummed it. 

She hardly sang and it was a miracle to hear her hum. Being immensely self-conscious about her voice, Elorelei never sang for audiences or in choirs. Her singing voice was much more powerful than her humming, but no one except for her grandfather and her brother had ever heard it.

The forest became tired while she hummed into the night sky. Her voice was low and sweet, carrying threw the trees like a wind. It was almost as if she was singing the forest to sleep when she herself dropped off.

Moments into the forest's content slumber...

"WHOA!" The silence broke as Legolas fell from a nearby tree branch and got his leg entangled up in some.

Elorelei glared furiously at him, even though he was hanging there by his ankle, looking pathetic. "Ugh, when do you LEARN, Legolas Greenleaf?" She jumped nimbly from branch to branch, until she stood sort of next to him. 

He struggled and tried to free his ankle, noticing the smile creep up Elorelei's face, he stopped. "What?" He asked, unwilling to let her know he was in serious pain.

"Do you want to get down from there, Princey?" She teased, giving him a soft poke in the ribs.

He tried not to laugh, as he was very ticklish and it may have killed him. "Oh no, I want to stay in this tree until my leg falls off." He said sarcastically. Elorelei shrugged and made to leap down and leave him. "NO! I mean, I want to get down, I just... need help..." The last two words barely made it past his lips. 

"What was that last part?" She poked him in the ribs again, but this time he burst out laughing and began to sway. His ankle made a horrible cracking noise and he screamed, falling from the tree altogether.

"Oh my God, Legolas?" Elorelei jumped down from the tree and almost hurt herself, she landed so hard. 

Legolas writhed in agony. His head throbbed with pain from the fall and his ankle felt like it was burning off, it wasn't off already. What if it was still dangling in the tree? All bloody? But no, he could vaguely make it out, still there attached to his leg. His vision clouded, so he was vaguely aware of Elorelei's arms helping him against the tree trunk.

"Legolas, I know 'Are you okay?' is a stupid question, but it's mandatory. Are you okay?"

He nodded, but wasn't entirely sure what the question was. Cool water ran down is throat moments later and his vision cleared up some. Elorelei was crouched at his feet, wrapping his ankle tightly with something he couldn't make out.

"What...." His vocal chords reached for air. "What are you doing?"

She didn't appear to have heard him at first, but whistled low and long for Iledian. "I'm helping you," She said, giving him another drink of the cool river waters. "_I don't know why, but I'm helping you anyway."_ She thought in her own mind and Iledian came running down from the stables. "Just be still, okay?"

Legolas was more than happy to oblige as his surroundings came more into focus. His ankle was blaring at him, broadcasting its pain and racked it through his body, but at least his mind was clearing. The mare looked like a vision as she gallantly rode upon the two elves. Elorelei gave her soft low instructions, muttering for Legolas to grab the horse's neck. Suddenly, the Prince was on horseback, and the Princess on the back. That was all Legolas knew before the tormenting hurt consumed his mind and he passed out.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The dawn broke over the Castle calmly enough. Legolas barely stirred from his bed, even as the light shown upon his eyes. Interestingly, it took the sound of a bird singing directly in his ear to wake him. Before he could retaliate on his disturbed rest, the bird flew out of an open window and sang it's way away on a morning breeze. Which made Legolas all the more crankier. Then he realized where he was.

"Just waking up, I suppose, young Prince?" said a merry voice. It belonged to a pretty flame-haired elf, with shiny green eyes. Her dress was white, but very plain. "You should thank your friend, that ankle was getting worse by the second. It would have been pretty much done for, if she hadn't gotten here so fast."

Legolas blinked many times before he remembered what she was talking about. The humming, Elorelei, falling out of the tree, his ankle... He winced and reached a hand down to touch it. It felt about three times as big as it should have, and very tender. The elf immediately ran over and started making a fuss as if he were made of precious stones. "Great, really great." He muttered.

"I know, isn't it simply FABULOUS?" said another, more sarcastic, voice. He didn't even have to guess who it was.

"Hello, _Princess_," He tried to hide a smile. Legolas never thought he'd be thankful that someone treated him the same, no matter what his situation.

"Hey, Princey." Elorelei grinned, seating herself on a nearby bed.

"Don't call me Princey."

"Then don't call me Princess."

Elorelei was not the friendliest person in the Castle, but she would be the kind of hopelessly sarcastic but devoted friend that everyone had. Legolas realized that she was his.

A/N: This chapter was lazy, blame it.


	9. Boundaries of Friendship

Disclaimer: Don't you like Batman Beyond? I love that show…

****

Chapter Nine: Boundaries of Friendship (AKA ANOTHER crappy song)*

"Elorelei? Do you have the Astronomy chart? I lost mine." Legolas looked helplessly at his best friend for the past four hundred years at the Castle and then some.

Smirking, the young lady elf, sporting a green and brown tunic, picked up the paper from underneath a nearby table. "As usual, Princey's lost his own head WHILE it was attached." The elf laughed, then immersed herself in her book, but heard the muttered response of "_Princess."_ "Shut up." She added.

"You shut up."

"You shut up first."

"You shut up first first."

"You shut up first first first."

At this point, the librarian ever so kindly told them both to shut up.

The time at the Castle went by quickly to those living there, and slow to others. Legolas grew to be the most enchanting prince in the eyes of younger females. His archery skills were amplified many times over and his skills with people and things grew; many predicted he would become a great king. Whether by choice or by fate, Legolas was popular. Elorelei had managed to stay out of the limelight, though there was rarely a time they weren't spotted together. Her hair was no longer light to dark brown, but almost black. The green in her eyes increased until they looked like forest with a river of blue flowing through them. She grew stronger by day and smarter by night and no one, not even Legolas, could surpass her archery.

"Miss Whitecloud! Miss Whitecloud!" Rilar ignored the laughing of the several boys in his class. Elorelei Whitecloud was the finest archer in the school, female or no. "Please, show these young ones some real archery."

A low murmur passed threw the crowd with remarks like "A female teach us archery?" "He must be older than he looks." The facts were, however, that Rilar had barely aged a day, much less several centuries. Though many thought he taught better with his old assisant, Jayik now had control of intermediate archery, and Rilar had advanced archery. That's the way it was.

"Miss Whitecloud here will be doing a little trick for us. A trick that most of you should be able to do." He glared at his class, most of them slackers, thinking they knew that what-what's about archery, when they didn't know enough to shoot an irugu from thirty feet. 

Pulling a small fruit from his pocket, Rilar tossed it as high as it would go, then caught it. The students chuckled.

"She will put an arrow through this, at it's greatest height. Depending on how high you throw, only ADVANCED archers can do this with a MEDIUM sized fruit. This is a relatively small one. Elorelei?" He stepped back, allowing her to stand right next to him, but she did not draw her arrow. He tossed the fruit upward, and she fitted, aimed, and shot her arrow in one fluid movement. The class fell silent.

She realized, while she didn't thrive on it, she could get very used to this impressing people thing Legolas talked about.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Elorelei... Wake up..." Legolas nudged the sleeping elf in the back again. She made a small mumbling sound but did not stir further. "Hey, _Princess_, wake up."

"Shut up, Princey. I'm awake," yawned Elorelei, stretching. "I just needed a little nap before you drag me off into uncharted corners of the forest." She rubbed her eyes a few times, then saw Legolas throwing some food into a bag. "Going on a field trip, are we?" She thought for a moment he was running away, but what did he have to run from?

Not thinking of the consequences, he grabbed her wrist and made to pull her outside. "No time to explain, we- .... oh, hello." A tall, blonde elf stood in the doorway. Her eyes were stony blue and full of a strange cunning that gave her face a rather twisted look. She was smiling broadly.

"Hi, Legolas." Niqueran smiled and looked into the Prince's blue eyes until he tore them away from her. 

"Hi.... hi....." Though he hated to admit it, her name escaped him, so Legolas closed with, "Just hi."

Elorelei muttered and looked at the ceiling. "Well said, Princey." She slung her bag over her shoulder and waited for Niqueran to move.

Niqueran made no such gesture. "Going out for an evening stroll, dear Prince?" Elorelei almost choked on her own laugh.

"Actually, I was, so, if you could-"

"Oh no," tutted the smitten elven lady. "No rush, do sit down."

"No," He said firmly. "We really have to go." Without waiting for retaliation, he brushed her aside politely as he knew how, then walked on, Elorelei still unwillfully in tow.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Hey, Legoldenlocks? Do you mind telling me what in Yuilar's name is wrong with you? Are you eating those herbs Eli sends me? Those are for Iledian, not for you. Or have you been eating Ms. Graceheart's homemade cakes? I warned you about those, don't say I didn't." However, nothing she said seemed to sway him. He didn't stop until they'd reached the same ringlet of trees Elorelei found when they had first come here.

The Prince sighed contendly and put his back against a tree. 

Elorelei nodded as if he had just ratified something. "Yup, Princey's gone insane. I'll go get the-"

"Oh, just sit down," said Legolas, torn between irritation and amusement.

She swung up and sat on a branch of the tree Legolas was under. Her stomach was flat against the branch and her arms hung down. "What's on your mind? You weren't exactly Prince Charming to Niqi back there." She asked, accepting a pomegranate he tossed to her.

A sigh came from below. "I'm not EXACTLY Prince Charming anyway." He picked up a rock, skimming it off the surface of the river until it disappeared from sight.

"This is true," Legolas jumped as Elorelei suddenly hung upside down before his face. "But only I know that, and I won't tell a soul, honest." She smiled. He weakly returned it, but could not keep it for long and again kept looking out over the water. She disappeared from view until he heard her land softly at his side. "Legolas..." Her voice was very soft now, she was through joking.

He sighed again. "What are you going to do when we leave here?" He asked, shutting his eyes, and closing out the world.

The first response that came to her head, came out of her mouth. "Be a Princess, I suppose. Until I'm old enough to leave that."

"Where then will you go?"

There was a pause for a while. Legolas opened one eye to be sure she hadn't left, but she was still there. She pulled her knees to her chest and gazed beyond the water. Her eyes wandered far away, in places he couldn't see, let alone imagine. To his shock, she started to sing in a clear, angelic voice that made a sound like a crystal bell.

"_Where then will you go, my little sparrow?_

Will you follow the wind, take you where it may?

Where then will you go, my little sparrow?

Why do you want to go so far away?

Is home not enough, my little sparrow?

Will you look for treasures in places unknown?

Will you take my heart with you, my little sparrow?

While you explore and you fight and you roam?

Where then will you go, my little sparrow?

When you have seen all the greatness in this great, big world?

Can I hope to have my heart back, my little sparrow?

Or will I never see you again, will the wind never blow you home?"

Legolas stared. Her cheeks were dampened from the tears than ran down her face. Her eyes were still wandering but Legolas could vaguely see them returning to their spot on the water. 

When she finally realized where she was, she sprang up, quickly, wiping her eyes. "I'm- I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to- I didn't know I would-"

He silenced her. "Don't apologize, that was beautiful. Where did you hear that?"

She said nothing, but found something interesting on the ground to stare at. "What did you want to talk about, Legolas?" She asked, furious with herself for just going off like that. She began to walk toward her bag.

"Why don't you want me to see you cry?" He circled around a tree and popped up in front of her, knowing fully well what she was capable of but that she would never use it on him.

"Oh no," She began, her voice tainted with anger. "We are NOT turning this into a discussion about me. This is about you, Legolas, I didn't want to come out here." She had never used his proper name so many times in a row since when they first met. 

He huffed. "Tomorrow, at Lunch, then? When you're not so uptight by me seeing you have an sensitive side?"

"Fine." Without waiting for a response, she picked up her bag and began walking away. Thinking she'd left him behind in the woods, she hardly noticed (or if she did notice, she didn't acknowledge) that he was following her until she reached her room.

"Goodnight, Princess," said Legolas, turning to go his own way.

She sighed. "Night, Princey."


	10. Bad Good Hair Day

Disclaimer: Dude, where's my car? Where's your car, dude?

****

Chapter Ten: Good Hair, Bad Day

"Elorelei, are you feeling all right?" Jayik asked. Her had arrow barely made it onto the bullseye and now she was staring at the ground, leaning on her bow. Her hand was wrapped around a chain on her neck and she said nothing in response to his question. He coughed, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Sorry, Jay, I'm not in the best of moods." She flumped down in the grass, hand still clasped over a chain around her neck. "I don't feel myself, if you can understand that."

Jayik tried to have a closer look at it. It was a pure silver chain that glinted in the sun with a pendant on it. The pendant being hidden by Elorelei's skilled hand, he began to ask her about it. "Just curious,"

"Curiosity will get you shot." was the immediate retort.

He'd come to learn that Elorelei's threats, though not empty, were rarely carried out in full on her friends. "What's that around your neck?" He said anyway.

"Oh," Her eyes grew sad as she showed him the sparkling necklace. "I've had this on my whole life. My father said... He said I've had it on since the day I was born." The pendant was a brilliant blue with silver writings inside of it that spelled out her name. "I want to go home."

Jayik was startled by her childish tone. "What?"

"I want to go home," she repeated. "I don't want to stay here. I've not seen my home or family in nearly 500 years. I'm almost a millienia old. My only comfort is that Filior should be coming soon. I should much like to see him."

"You may be smart, but you are still not wise," he muttered, joining her on the grass. "What did you and Legolas talk about this time that got you thinking of this?"

"Well, he-" She stopped. "It's none of your business. How did you know about that?"

"It's none of your business." snickered the elf, sitting straighter. "If you can't tell me, then perhaps Legolas deserves to be told?"

Legolas was right around the corner. Upon hearing his name, he looked for the source and saw Elorelei laying in the grass, Jayik sitting beside her obviously in deep conversation. His mind told him strictly to move on. It was a private conversation. Move. On.

Ducking behind the nearest thing, the Prince listened.

"Legolas?" A small, unimpressed sound escaped her. "I can tell Legolas nothing." She muttered, laying down her bow and turning on her side. She shifted her tightly wrapped hair so she could lay more comfortably.

Jayik frowned. "That cannot be true, all the time you two spend together."

"Legolas does the talking, I do the listening."

Immediately, these words triggered something and Legolas's mind jumped back in time to their many conversations. Him telling her his fears, his wishes, his dreams, his hopes, and his problems when he had them. She told him about... nothing. If there was a moment she did, he could have recalled it. Not one single instance of her pouring her soul into him as he did with her ever came to mind. He tried to catch more of the conversation, but his mind spun suspicions and accusations everywhere.

Jayik shook his head. "You ARE foolish."

"Don't get all high-and-mighty with me, Jayik. I am Legolas's friend, there is no doubt of that." Her voice had sharpened considerably. She thought she heard a sigh from somewhere, but ignored it. "But I cannot and I will not tell him anything."

Those words being all he could bear, Legolas stood up and walked away, focusing entirely on his steps to keep his insides from shattering.

Jayik pressed on. "Why?"

"My problems would be a burden," She mumbled, calming her tone. "I don't want to trouble him."

"If he is truly your friend, I believe he would try to help you. Friendship is not one-sided."

Clearly having had enough, Elorelei stood up and snatched up her bow and quiver. "I will handle my problems on my own. Neither Legolas, nor you, shall have to lose sleep over them." Before he could add another thought, she strode off.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Another pitiful day in advanced Elven History. Now it was more modern and learning about the old ages was through with. Yet something about today's lesson made it excruciatingly boring. 

Of course, the substitute.

"Mikele, a darkling, was the second elf ever to journey to the mortal realm in the modern age. It is rumored that she was to be Queen of the East.." She droned on and on, making tense, heart-wrenching moments in history seem completely dull. Elorelei sat in very last seat in the very last row in the corner of the room. Her normal seat was right up front where she could benefit from "close-range" teaching. In other words, so the teacher could keep an eye on her. The issue with that today was Legolas sat directly next to her and Niqueran sat directly in front. No one sat where they were supposed to when a substitute was brought in, anyway, so the elves were scattered. Niqueran convienietly found a seat next to Legolas and would've talked him to death had it not been for the teacher telling her to stop or be removed. 

"Pretty boring, huh?" said a voice next to Elorelei. 

She jumped a moment, then recognized the face. It was Berloc, a Noble from the South who was just below Legolas in the archery class. His face was fair, even if his name wasn't. He was all around nice, as was the reputation of Southerners, but the teacher (who was not nice) cleared her throat and glared menacingly before he could start a conversation. Elorelei graced him with a smile for his effort, then went back to thinking about all the things she could be doing right now.

The class bell rang what seemed an age later. By that time, Elorelei had so many thoughts in her head, Berloc gave her a friendly nudge to snap her out of it.

"Class is up, Princess Elorelei." He said, picking up his books.

Elorelei picked up her books. "For the last time, call me Elorelei, Berloc. Or Lora or Lei or anything you like, except Princess. I hate being called Princess."

He laughed. "Okay, Elorelei. Hm, looks like Niqi's got her teeth in some fresh meat." The remark was casual, he didn't think it would mean anything, but as soon as the word "Niqi" escaped him, Elorelei snapped her head up. 

The elf's arm had wormed it it's way into linking with Legolas's. She forcefully began to steer him from the room, though he looked like he wanted to wait for someone.

Elorelei dropped her books in shock... on Berloc's feet.

"OW!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Berloc, I just-just..." She reached over to help him, putting his arm around her neck and finding a seat for him.

"It's allright. The books are just a little heavy." He removed his arm, but took Elorelei's hair tie with it. "Oh, man, we're both really clumsy toda-" He did not finish. The whole class stopped moving. Elorelei shut her eyes tightly, hoping the world would evaporate of it's own accord. 

Black waves of hair cascaded down her back, past her waist, brushed her ankles. She wanted to bend down, and pick up the tie, pretend nothing had happened. The curls framed her face, untamed and wild, just like the last time she looked at them. They weren't light and springy, or thick and winding, but wavy and elegant and everything she felt that she was not. How the hell was she "wavy" anyway?

Berloc offered her the tie, but said nothing. He merely stared in shock. Though she snatched it and pulled her hair up in the same tight ponytail bun, the class did not resume moving right away. A few moved on, but others just stared in disbelief. Very few elves had hair of such length or texture. To find one that was that did was rare... extremely rare. It was considered a very recessive genetic trait that only carried through in ONE family blood line that had been lost almost a millenia ago. Without a word, she shoved past them and ran to her dormitory. Not knowing just what she was running from.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The rain spattered on the window of the dormitory, but the only person in it didn't seem to care. Elorelei pulled the blankets over herself more, ignoring the lunch bell, ignoring the fact that she had class after lunch, ignoring her hungry stomach. Sleep would solve everything. She just needed some sleep.

The moment her head touched the pillow, Niqueran came in, followed by Fawneya and Junita, who was giggling like she might never stop. Fawneya scowled and sat away from the two. It was the first time she had seen Fawneya act in such a way.

The two sisters appeared not to notice while Junita clasped her sister's hands, trying to calm her down enough to speak.

"Come, Niqi, what did he say? What did he say?"

Niqueran fanned her flushed face, taking little gasps of breath before she spoke. "Well, first, he wouldn't talk much. I think he was just a little shy, but then that sorry excuse of a Princess came running past. I mean, it was like he suddenly got very angry. But he started talking. He asked me to go to that dance with him!" She squealed. "I can't wait to show him off in front of that... princess. I better get to know him, make her even more jealous." She picked up her delicate skirts and dashed from the room, Junita trotting behind. Fawneya sat on her bed and did not follow them.

Elorelei shut her eyes finally. That was the last thing she felt like hearing. She had forgotten about the dance, because she never went to them. The last one she attended had been at the beginning of their term. Usually, Legolas found a reasonably suitable date, not one he knew was Elorelei's clandestine adversary. Choosing not think about this, she cast a sleeping spell and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. She was never more thankful for it.

**__**

*~*~*~*

He couldn't believe it. She didn't come to lunch. She totally ditched him and left him there looking stupid. The girl he'd asked to the dance came to sit beside him and try to get him to talk. She reminded him strongly of Celidia, whom he hadn't seen a long while. No matter what she tried, he was too angry to focus on one subject and the conversation bombed. He was used to being a trophy date, no girl he ever asked to any event ever tried to pry anything out of him. This was a new experience.

Classes started up again but he saw no sign of Elorelei. She did not attend Hunting and Tracking, or Arithmetic. When she missed Targeting, Legolas finally became worried. It was by far her favorite and best class. They put their archery skills to use and sometimes taught younger ones. He ran in from the training area, his feet leading the way to her room.

The moment his foot touched the ground in the dormitory, two elven girls leapt into his face, both talking so fast he couldn't catch more than a word.

"Please- please- will you get off my foot? Look, that's great but- I'm here to see- Can you just-"

"Niqi! Niqueran, Legolas wants to see you!" Junita screamed, faning herself and continually reaching out to touch the Prince's arm.

He spent the next couple of minutes trying to get the girls off him and explain he didn't know who Niqueran was and he wanted to see someone else. Niqueran walked in from the dressing room, and opened her mouth to speak. 

Legolas didn't let her get a step further. "WILL YOU ALL LISTEN TO ME? I JUST WANT TO SEE ELORELEI!" He shouted, seconds before recognizing Niqueran as the girl he'd asked to the dance. "_I need to improve my memory."_ he thought, letting out a sigh.

"That's simply lovely, Legoldenlocks. Do you mind not yelling? I'm not feeling so hot." came a grumbly voice.

Niqueran whirled around and scowled at Elorelei, who politely told her to "cram that lovely little scowl" someplace that Legolas didn't want to think about. The elf's breathing increased as she looked to the Prince for some defense but found only polite indifference. Junita stared very firmly at the ground and Fawneya giggled quietly. That was the last straw, and the afronted lady elf shoved her way out the door. 

The Princess grumbled some more and curled up, her whole body was aching. She felt trapped inside it. She barely even felt it when Legolas sat next to her on the bed.

"Are you alright?" he asked, he had come up here to yell at her, but it didn't seem like that would be happening soon. Her ears could pick up every slight sound and she winced as he talked. 

"Not so loud," her voice rasped, like she needed a good, long shout. "I'm sleepy," she continued mumbling, sounding as if she wasn't talking to anyone at all. "Let me sleep. I will land later." She sounded so far off, and she was talking nonsense now. "Need the wing. Trapped. Must be free."

That was all he could take. "I'm taking you to the infirmary." said Legolas, putting his bag under her bed.

"NO!" She cried, her voice was hissing but it made the walls tremble. "NO! Leave me free!" She struggled to get up out of the bed, but Legolas wrapped her tightly. Fawneya backed away into a corner, pulling Junita's arm so she wouldn't be in the way either. Elorelei wasn't screaming but she was struggling wildly against Legolas, who held her. He was grateful for his training classes now, the developed muscles in his arms were stronger than he thought. Still, he couldn't do much with her while she struggled. He would have to wait until she tired herself out.

Fawneya looked on shocked, while Junita tried to get out of the room. Just as she broke free and ran to the door, another elf came though. His hair was long, and brown like autumn leaves. Before Legolas could stop him, he put something stiff and blue inside her mouth and made her swallow it. She dropped asleep in very few seconds.

Legolas stood up, anger creasing his face. Then he realized who it was. "Eli! Where'd you come from? I mean- She- How did-" He felt like he was stuttering for the fifth time that day.

"Pure luck, Legolas. I was on my way up here and I heard her yell." said Eli, turning her on her back so he would be able to pick her up. He managed to get his arms around her, but she was heavier than he anticipated. "Uh, would you mind? She's a bit heavy and I'm a healer, not a warrior."

Legolas obligingly lifted her. She would've hit them both if she woke up and saw Legolas holding her like she was a child. He followed Eli down to the infirmary, looking quite a sight. He felt sure of what would happen once she woke up. "_You CARRIED me? I'm not an infant! Why didn't you just leave me there? Or wake me up!"_

Eli glanced back to see the Prince laughing to himself. "Do I need to knock you out, too?"

"No," He muttered, laughing some more. "She's just incorrigible."

"Really? Right now she looks unconscious..." said Eli uncertainly. Privately he thought that Legolas was just a little off-center.


	11. Incidents by Moonlight

Disclaimer: I'm getting tired of these…

A/N: Just to let you know, this thing has two parts so if my updates seem seven years apart, I'm just writing more.

****

Chapter Eleven: Incidents by Moonlight

"Legolas, she won't wake up any faster if you just stand there and then pace around and then stand some more," said Eli, refusing to lift his eyes from some healing book he'd brought with him. Not wanting to be told what to do, Legolas snorted, and kept pacing. "Fine, don't listen to me. It's not my fault that you've stayed up half the night and you have to take your Strength test tomorrow." 

Legolas looked at the clock on the wall and swore. It was at least eleven thirty, and he set about finding a small bed in the same room. Eli rolled his eyes.

**__**

*~*~*~*

It was an hour and a half later when the sleeping princess began to stir. Elorelei yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sitting up straight. Very faintly, she heard Legolas breathing softly, sleeping, in the background and Eli was dead asleep in a chair near her bedside. Though she stretched in every way she knew how, she still felt trapped.

Pulling herself from the bed, she went to the window. The moon was shining, full and bright, smiling with age old wisdom. "Jerk." She mumbled at it, and swung out of the window.

She couldn't imagine how many ways Eli would kill her if he discovered her gone. The last thing she remembered was trying to leave her body, as strange as it may have sounded. She was still feeling trapped, and for a brief moment forgot where she was going or if she had ever known. Where WAS she going? 

The more she walked, the more lost she became. Voiceless words that she couldn't distinguish kept echoing through her head. There was running water in the background of these voices, and depending on where she walked, the sounds got closer or farther away. 

Her mind started to become warped. Exhausted, she slumped down on a soft patch. How far she had wandered from the Castle, she was uncertain. Her eyelids seemed to want her to close her eyes, weighing themselves down. The voices were booming loudly in her head, but she couldn't understand a word.

"Gods, what the-"

"Elorelei! There you are! I wasn't sure you heard me but... you're here." said a soft voice. Elorelei looked up vacantly at the voice.

It was a fairly old woman, maybe in her late fifties. Her hair was just turning gray, her back bent like weak metal, but she straightened up upon seeing Elorelei and her eyes glistened with tears.

Putting on her royal façade, the princess stood up to address the woman. "How do you know my name, mortal? You should not be here. Where do you come from? Perhaps we can return you-"

"Stop that, yes I am mortal for now. I am in my fortieth life, if you must know. I see you have grown beautiful, more beautiful than I could've ever... ever raised you to..." The woman paused, her voice choked and she finally collapsed and began sobbing. 

Elorelei stood, unsure of what to do next. How did this woman know her? She looked at her again, her hair was tied in the same fashion as her own, and was the same ebony black with hints of brown left in it... A thought came to her, but she rejected it almost bitterly. "Impossible. She is mortal, she is not- not related to me." She mumbled as quietly as she could, but the woman heard. She stopped sobbing and stood up.

"But- but do you not understand?" she asked, her voice positively bubbling because of the tears.

Elorelei stomped her foot. "No, I do NOT understand! Who are you?! What is it you're trying to tell me?! You're- you're just a human!" It was the first time in her life that she used the word "human" to mean something vile and disgusting. 

A hurt look over came her. "No... Not truly human, dear, but later. Much later. You must... AAAH!!" The woman screamed as if something had been shot directly through her and fell to the ground again. Elorelei ran to help her, but the woman seemed fine. "Don't worry about me, there is not much time. Take this." The woman removed a chain from her frail neck. A pendant of a silver bird was on it. She hastily removed it and gave it to Elorelei. "Decide before you put it on, for it will bind you and set you free."

"Excuse me?"

"You will know. Remember to keep your secrets well, for you will have many." The woman sighed then stood up. "I must go, my time is over." And she shimmered and disappeared into thin air. Shocked as the Princess was, her words echoed in Elorelei's mind, "Keep your secrets well…" She had heard those words before, and she had seen that woman, too, but when?

"Well... that was weird." shrugged the princess, putting the necklace in her pocket. No longer feeling closed in, but not wanting to find her way back to the infirmary, she walked under the stars for another hour, then fell asleep under a tree, to be visited only by strange dreams.


	12. A Dance

Disclaimer: it's 10:03 at night…

A/N: I put a Mary Sue-ish description in here. Lord forgive me, for I have sinned. My beta-reader is away on spring vacation. So this is the most I can give you all. Sorry, we is working on it, isn't we precious? Yes, gollum, gollum.

****

Chapter Twelve: When We Dance

"ELORELEI!"

"Legolas, you're becoming hysteric-" Eli began, but Legolas silenced him with another loud shout. His bow was clenched tightly in his palm, and his quiver packed with arrows. He could feel her around somewhere, but panic had overcome him. Eli sat on a rock and rolled his eyes, Elorelei style. "Princes. Don't listen to reason." He muttered softly.

"I heard that," came Legolas's voice as he marched on through the brush, oblivious to Eli's snarky comments. "She has to be around here. Her footsteps-"

The tired healer stood up, he knew Elorelei was out there and that she was fine, but Legolas refused to listen. "What footsteps? I haven't seen anything since I followed you out of the window!" His eyes traveled upward as Legolas leapt up into a tree to get a better look at things. 

"Well," he said. "You haven't taken Hunting and Tracking, now have you?" The Prince smirked and glanced around some more from his post in the tree. "Found her." He announced, jumping lightly down and running off into the forest.

Eli sat up, not bothering to yell his "I told you", and walked calmly, following the sound of Legolas's running feet.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei turned in her sleep again. The dreams had not left her at peace all night. Some were terrifying, others beautiful, others confusing, and yet still others that were mysterious. Visions of skies bluer than blue in and of itself, oceans, sheer walls of earth, forests, rivers that ran down steep hills and leapt off cliff edges as waterfalls, and a voice behind it all that whispered, "It can all be yours."

"What? What can be mine?" she asked the nameless, faceless voice.

"All." It responded. "All..." All?

"Elorelei, wake up, you're dreaming." 

A voice. A voice she knew, but whose? It spoke again. She opened her eyes. Eli's face stared back at her and she sat up, leaving the dreams and the visions and the voice with no name. "Eli?"

"Yes, it's me and your knight in shining armor over there." sniffed Eli haughtily, tilting his head toward Legolas.

"Oh, allow me to stand so that I may leap for joy," grumbled te still half-asleep elf, without moving so much as a hair.

Legolas folded his arms and extended a hand to help her off the ground, knowing that in her pride, she wouldn't accept it.

"No thanks, Princey," she said, shoving his hand away. "I can stand allright, I'm not crippled." She stood up and looked at her surroundings, trying to remember if last night was just another dream. The chain with the bird on it jangled in her pocket and she swung into a tree, and she jumped down as soon as she heard it. "Hmph, so it is true. I wonder what-"

Legolas coughed and interrupted her. "Um, sorry, but we need to get you back to the Castle. They're having the Arrival of New Pupils and the dance on the same day to save time, and I'm sure you'll want a date." 

"I hate dates. Nasty little fruits. I prefer peaches, or oranges. I don't want a date, I want an orange."

"That's so funny I forgot to laugh." 

"Well, remember."

Eli watched them both out of the corner of his eye. Something about Elorelei's behavior was amiss. He couldn't detect what it was, but something was wrong.

"I don't need a date." she insisted again, making sure her hair was still tightly tied.

"Your brother's going to be there!"

"Your point is?"

Eli stepped in, concerned for his safety but not wanting to be out here all day. "Um, maybe if you two went together-"

His suggestion was received with a resounding, "NO!" from both sides.

"Just speculating. Anyway, can we go in please? Even if she doesn't want a date, if she's going to see her brother, she better find a proper dress."

Elorelei's face hit the ground at the word 'proper dress'. "Ugh, for the love of…"

**__**

*~*~*~*

"I don't want to."

"Elorelei, you're making a big deal out of nothing."

"I DON'T want to."

"Lori, come now..."

"Eli, if you had seen their faces… I'm not going to."

"Just let your hair down, just this once."

"NO."

Legolas banged his fist on the door. "Is she ready?" He cast an eye back to check on Berloc. The elf wore a fine dress tunic, dark green and brilliant like emeralds. Still, when Legolas asked that Elorelei have a date, he hadn't pictured someone she might actually like.

"Almost." said Eli. A gasp was heard from inside and a lot of shouting that Legolas couldn't make out. Finally the door opened. Eli's face was beaming like a candle in a dark cave. "Just a few more moments."

"Eli, don't make me do this." Elorelei begged as an awestruck servant girl put dressings on Elorelei's long hair and brushed it through.

"Your hair to most astounding, mistress, I mean, Elorelei." Her face turned bright red at the prospect of calling a royal by their first name. 

"I know, everyone will stare. Legolas likes that attention. Fix his hair." She was ignored.

Soon the last clips were in place and the door was ready to be opened. Eli looked with pride on the broken but well-dressed lady elf.

"Eli, please, I'll do anything. I'll even dance! I will!" The princess moaned in her last ditch attempt.

"Go. Out. There. And. Meet. Your. DATE," said Eli sternly, then sat down and waited for her to go.

Legolas had stalled for as long as he could stall. Niqueran (who'd accepted his many apologies with a giggle) was tugging on his arm. He shouted to Eli he was leaving and left without a second glance backward.

Berloc stared up. The door closed behind Legolas just as the door to Elorelei's dormitory opened.

"Sorry for making you late, Berloc. I had a struggle." Elorelei said, grudingly with the noble stared open mouthed.

Her hair seemed like an shining, black ocean. Opal butterflies danced on waves on ebony locks when she walked and her dress looked as if she was wearing water. It fit her form easily, gracefully and fell at her feet like a waterfall. Though she wore no heels, her sandals had more opals and glittered brilliantly. Berloc grinned, thinking of one thing to complete the ensemble.

"You look horrible, go change." He joked. Elorelei's smile completed her, and she was truly, absolutely beautiful.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei and Berloc stood before the doors of the hall.

Berloc gently took her hand. "Make sure you don't walk too close to me. I don't want to be trampled when every guy in there rushes to ask you to dance." 

She laughed. "No way. I came with you. I'm dancing with you. I'll fight them all off."

"You'll have quite a battle on your hands."

"Me? You're helping."

"When was that arranged?" But Berloc didn't get his answer. Elorelei pushed opened the door was greeted by turmoil of the dance. She took her first step in, and did not look back.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Legolas sat stiffly in his chair. The dance had begun and though Niqueran wasn't the best of partners, he was glad he was with her rather than talking Elorelei through the steps of a dance. He loved his friend, but a dance was not her environment. 

Niqueran had found an elf that actually paid attention to her, when a sort of almost silence came over the hall and she craned her long neck to look. Legolas was too wrapped up in thoughts to notice the change in atmosphere. The music continued, but the talking had subsided to quiet murmurs.

Elorelei suddenly felt a wave of panic come over her and she squeezed Berloc's hand to let him know she was not enjoying the stares they received.

"I know, ignore them. Dance." He muttered, leading her to the floor.

She immediately resisted. "What?"

"Dance, focus on dancing. You're not alone in this as long as I'm here. When you get tired tell me."

She stopped fighting, but went nervously along, feeling her soft hair on her ankles. Slowly, the room melted away while her soul was stirred by the soft music. Without even thinking, she started dancing.

Legolas sat, perturbed, waiting for Elorelei to arrive. She was taking forever, and some couple on the dance floor must have been doing some very advanced moves because everyone seemed to be trying to crowd over there without appearing to. He stood up and went closer for a better look, but he only caught glances through the crowd. He squinted and moved closer, and what he saw made him wish he was sitting down.

A/N: Errr, time to put in romance. Very little and Legolas is not in it, so don't worry. I won't be going down that path for a while.


	13. Things Fall Apart

Disclaimer: I WANT CANDY!

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Chapter Thirteen: Things Fall Apart

The next morning was uneventful. Elorelei woke up early to wash and feed Iledian, then put her through her paces. The dance from last night was still vaguely on her mind. By the time everyone stopped staring, she'd found Filior and sat down to talk with him. She hadn't see Legolas once. Adding this to her pile of worries, she summed up that she was worried about Legolas, about graduation in only two years, worried about Filior, and still worried about the necklace the old woman had given her. She'd almost forgotten it, but now it seemed more important than all her other cares combined.

"Why?" Elorelei asked, then jumped as Iledian nudged her in the back. "I know, I should stop talking to myself." 

The horse shook her mane, fervently agreeing, then pawed the ground, saying she was ready to go.

"I know, give me a- Oh, Legolas. There you are." Her eyes traveled upward into the branches of a tree where Legolas sat, perfectly blended except for his brilliant hair and skin.

"Eyes of an eagle, huh?"

"Yes, it does seem that way." Elorelei smiled, fitting Iledian's girth then jumping on. "Want to come? It's a nice day."

Legolas looked out at the crystal blue skies, painted carefully with calm clouds. The sun was shining softly and comfortably, instead of beating down. It _was_ a nice day. "Yes, I'll go. But I want to talk to you."

"Well, now's your chance. I think a horse is already tacked up in the stable. I'll wait." Iledian snorted impatiently but Elorelei didn't encourage her to go.

Legolas smiled and got his horse.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The prince watched while Iledian ran, free of bridle, saddle, and rider. His own horse followed, but could barely keep up with the mare.

Elorelei sat under a tree. Her mind was elsewhere, thinking of the necklace and the old woman's riddle. "_It will bind you and set you free._" Did she mean it would bind her THEN set her free? She felt the coolness of the metal chain but didn't take it out of her pocket. It crossed her mind to tell Legolas and see what he made of it. Then she remembered her natural instinct to not tell anyone her secrets. As if on cue, it spoke.

"_And that will accomplish what, exactly?_" asked the ever nagging voice in her head. "_You know big, brave Legolas. He'll go on and on about not telling him in the first place._"

For the first time, she thought to respond. "So what? Why shouldn't I tell him?"

"Tell me what?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

She sighed and laid her head agains the trunk of the tree. "Iledian's right, I must stop doing that... Legolas, I want to tell you something."

"Really? That's a first." He snapped more bitterly than he intended.

She looked taken aback for a second then finally laughed. "So you heard me and Jayik talk about that."

"I heard you say you don't trust me enough to tell me anything."

"I never said I didn't trust you."

"If you refuse to tell me something important, it generally means that you don't trust me."

"No, it means I'm careful about my secrets."

"And you think I wouldn't be?"

No response came to the clever elf's head that wouldn't wound him deeply, so she quieted. After a moment of silence, she spoke again with a cool voice. "Well, I want to tell you something now. Do you want to listen?"

"If I don't?"

She shrugged, standing up to leave. "Then I guess you don't. It's your call."

Legolas frowned angrily, but didn't follow her. He was tired of following her. She had to show he meant something to her also.

Seconds ticked by and she kept a steady calm pace while she left when in reality she felt like running away and never turning back. 

After a few more moments, his voice came from behind her. "When are you gonna get tired of being so proud, Elorelei?!" She ignored him, even as he went on. "You won't always be able to stand so tall! What then?! Who's going to be there when you give out?!" She said nothing, but disappeared, Iledian going after her. The sky began to gray and soon a steady rain was falling. Legolas didn't go back until the end of the day.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Try as she might to avoid him, Legolas now appeared to be everywhere due to the lessons they shared. He constantly tried to out-do her archery, all in vain. It seemed their fight had cleared her head more than any amount of practice.

"Bullseyes AGAIN, Legolas." said Rilar proudly. "You two are my best." The elves mumbled their thanks but didn't look at one another. "Okay, two more shots then you may leave.

They each sunk bullseyes, but only Elorelei managed to split her arrow.

They're anger was always a cold one, above petty name-calling and spiteful remarks. Still, Legolas loosened his tongue enough to say, "Showoff." She said nothing in response, but smirked at him. Jayik saw this, as always, he knew the story behind it but kept quiet until Legolas left and Elorelei was about to resume practice, then he caught her.

"I heard you all in the fields."

"You hear everything. And I might actually care in some strange, alternate dimension."

"Couldn't have picked a better time to be so prideful, could you?"

"Jay, be quiet. I'm shooting."

"Legolas trusted you! Legolas was your only friend!"

"Proves how sad I am, huh? Needing Legolas for friendship."

"Don't you DARE insult him. Not after he's done so much for you."

"Ha, like what?"

"Let's see, got you that tutor's job, made sure your family had safe passage in the West, taught you how to fight with knives-"

"And then turned on me."

"You turned on him!"

"Jayik, I'm shooting."

"It's almost graduation, you can't end your friendship this way!"

Elorelei scoffed. "What friendship?" Before she could string her arrow Jayik's hand came in and slapped her across her face.

He didn't realize what he'd done until seconds after he'd done it. His arm and hand he'd used were twitching in anger while she sat on the ground and looked up at him. The side of her face was turning red but she couldn't do anything except stare. She'd never been hit before, not once in her entire life. It was like some rude awakening. Jayik made no movements. For at least ten minutes they stood there, bewildered eyes versus angry ones. 

Finally, Jayik broke the silence. "You are disgrace to you and your family's name if you are so conceited and self-absorbed that you can't even admit that you are in the wrong."

"Jayik? Are you there? I need-... oh." Legolas stopped entering the room as soon as he saw Elorelei. She didn't look at him, but it wasn't the usual disdainful avoidance. He wasn't even sure if she had heard him. Rather than address Elorelei herself, he turned to Jayik. "Is she..."

He looked at her, concern finally seeping into his face, replacing the rage. "She's fine. She'll be fine," said the older elf, but the prince made a note of how uncertain he sounded. Elorelei stood up, shakily, and walked away, leaving her bow on the ground and not even looking back to remember it or pick it up. "I hope she'll be fine." Jayik amended when she'd finally gone. He looked at Legolas, who now looked overcome with unconditional worry. "What was it you needed?"

"I, uh, forget." He answered distractedly, then left also, praying no one would look where he was heading.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Gingerly, Elorelei touched the side of her face. She could see the mark of Jayik's hand, it burned red, outlining the hand, and stung worse than nettles when she touched it. 

"Elorelei?"

She gasped loudly, whirled around at the sound of her name. She would've screamed. Every voice she heard seemed ten times as loud. Only Berloc stood there, and she'd be dead before she screamed in front of him.

"Oh, hello." she said with much relief, then she realized he could see the mark on her face and turned away. "What do you want?" Silence. Maybe he hadn't noticed, maybe he'd left. Maybe he was standing right next to her, inspecting her face. She had a sickening feeling it was the last one.

"Who hit you?" He asked carefully, trying not to portray emotion. She slid away from him, avoiding his eyes. He knew she had heard more than just him asking an innocent question. If she gave him the answer, friend or foe, that person was not going to have a happy day. "I just want to know who hit you." He repeated, trying to sound caring instead of angry.

As badly as she wanted to give a stupid answer like "no one" or "I slipped", she couldn't think of a proper excuse other than Niqueran, who Berloc knew would never hit her unless she was temporarily insane. Instead, she looked at her feet and kept silent. Then she felt them. Tears. The burning from the inside as it slowly wrapped around her heart and crept up under her eyelids. Soon they began to fall, and Berloc came closer even while she backed away from him. The thought of her crying in front of him and the difficulty of trying to stop just made her cry harder.

Before she could stop him, he hugged her. She fought him for a while, but she was crying too hard and soon stopped. He held her there for a while, until the tears finally stopped coming and she hugged him back, thankful for his stubbornness. Opening her red eyes, she saw a figure in the doorway. Shutting her eyes again, she felt the burning start all over. 

It was Legolas, visibly shaking with eyes that threatened to let loose his own tears.

A/N: There, done and done. Chapter 14 coming up. If my beta reader stops her lazy splurge.


	14. Back Into Place

Disclaimer: Because, yes.

****

Chapter Fourteen: Back Into Place

Eli leapt up as soon as Legolas entered the library. "Did you see her? Did you find out abou-... What's wrong?" He could see Legolas was torn between screaming fury and sobbing hysterics, he just couldn't tell why. "Legolas, will you stop fuming or crying or whatever you're doing for a second?"

"I. AM. NOT. CRYING." stated the prince with a wavering voice, then he started to mutter to himself to prevent another explosion of emotion.

It was another couple of minutes before Eli managed to get partially coherent sentence from the other elf.

"She's... in her dorm room... with _that_ elf." He said angrily.

Eli didn't ask who _that_ elf was. Legolas had been ever-so-kindly referring to Berloc that way since the dance. 

Filior came in moments later, his hands full of books. "Here are the books you wanted, Eli. Now tell me, what's wrong with my sis- Oh hi, Legolas." said the young prince cheerfully. He got a grunt in response.

"Um, Filior, I'm afraid we'll have to wait a bit to have this discussion." the healer muttered, nervously taking the books.

"Well, WHEN? She IS my sister and you keep acting as if she's going to die any second now."

"Nonsense, we're immortal, you know that."

"That's not what I-"

"Yes, yes, just please go. I promise, whatever I find out about your sister, you'll be the first to know."

"No, **you** will."

"Just go to class!"

Filior walked away calmly, trying to maintain his sense of dignity. Eli shook his head and sighed in frustration while Legolas muttered to himself.

"Legolas, what's bothering you?"

"You know what's bothering me. Why doesn't she show me any friendship? Why not any caring or pride in me or, gods, even affection?"

"She's not that kind of elf."

"Oh, she's not? She was hugging _that_.... thing."

"Oh, he's a thing now?"

"Yes," pouted Legolas childishly. "A thing."

"Then that means she'd rather hug a thing than you." He watched satisfactorily as Legolas struggled to decide whether he should glorify Berloc to make himself look better or demean him and make himself look worse.

"That was low of you, Eli." he settled finally.

"You asked for it. Now, if you would like to use some sense and just go talk to her instead of blubbering and stuttering like a little child- Oh, forgive me, I forgot. You both are currently engaged in hating each other with a violent passion. Well, there's an odd thing. If you're busy hating her, why do you-" Eli succeeded in annoying Legolas away and and went back to studying. "Okay, chapter one: Delusional Spells." He read, placing a finger on his place on the page. "Delusional spells are very powerful if they are cast from... Ugh, I need to know what KINDS of spell there are. This will take forever." Unfortunately, being a talented and well-known healer, Eli didn't always have forever to sit in one place.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei looked thoughtfully at the necklace after Berloc left. It appeared harmless, just a silver chain with the pendant of an silver eagle on it. After much thoughtful consideration, she came to a very rash decision. "Eh, I could do with some freeing right now." She moved to clip it on, her finger reaching around her neck. With every millimeter, the necklace began to buzz. Everything got louder. She could hear things happening down the hall, hear her own breathing as if it were magnified a thousand times over. Time slowed down as her hands made sloth-like movements, at least to her. Her mind was screaming warnings at her. It was nearly around her neck, the clasp was just going to close on the chain...

"Elorelei?"

Startled by the voice, the chain fell from her hands to the floor. After swearing and picking it up she put it back in her trunk. "Legolas." She said by way of greeting, not having to turn around to identify him. He was silent for a time. A long time. She don't know how long he stood there, staring at the floor. He was trying to pick out words that didn't make him sound stupid, which were few and not enough to give an accurate description of why he was here. Knowing she would positively hate herself for it later, she opened her mouth to speak first. "I'm sorry."

He finally looked up. "What?"

She huffed and turned to face him. "I said I was sorry... I AM sorry." The words coming from her mouth made that arrogant little voice in her head positively scream with rage. Legolas smiled. She refused to look at him, making a disgusted noise. "I make myself sick." She muttered, staring at the ceiling with a 'why me?' look. Legolas began to speak but she silenced him. "I'm warning you, if you even think to apologize, I'll send you flying out of the nearest window." 

He reconsidered his sentence. "Thank you." He said, finally. She mumbled in response. He continued. "I-I-" He didn't really want to say this, but he had to know if anything had changed between them. For better or for worse. "I saw you crying." He left out Berloc for his own sake.

"And?" she replied like it was nothing.

"You aren't exactly one to shed tears at any particular thing. What happened?" He watched as her hand flew to her face, involuntarily.

With some effort she put her hand back down. She no longer saw a point in lying to him. "Jayik hit me." She said simply.

Legolas gave her a clearly surprised look. "Hit you? Jayik?"

"I was saying some... less-than-nice things about you. He wouldn't take that disrespect of you and he hit me." He was silent, so she kept going. Allowing everything in her instincts to roar at her for spilling her feelings, but she didn't care. "It made me feel... weak. I don't like feeling weak. I didn't mean those things about you either." She added, a little desperately. The voices in her were raving and foaming at the mouth now. _You're disgusting! Look at you! Shut up now and keep at least SOME pride!_ This only encouraged her to continue. "But... you _were_ my friend and-"

"Are." He corrected.

She smiled. "You are my friend and I didn't want to admit that I... was glad of your company as much as I was." She finally stopped talking, waiting for some kind of reaction, except Legolas was grinning maliciously. "Ugh, enough of this fluffy, friendly stuff. Let's go practice. We have our graduating archery tournament in six months." He nodded, agreeing, asking her about her episode of insanity slipping his mind.

A/N: Just had to mend that up real quick. I'm still trying to decide about the necklace. But it'll get out of the way in chapter 16, honest injin..


	15. Good Riddance

Disclaimer: That's it. I hereby decree that Disclaimers are no longer necessary since I already said it fourteen times.

****

Chapter Fifteen: Good Riddance

*Six Months Later*

"Legolas, you can split that."

"I can't."

"Yes, you CAN."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I've been eliminated! Legolas, you can split an arrow. We practiced, remember?"

"WHY aren't we being graduated?"

"Because the archers aren't graduated from the Castle until they complete the tournament. Stop changing the subject. I KNOW you can split it."

"How did YOU get eliminated?"

"Change the subject one more time, and you won't have an arm to make this shot with."

"This is too much pressure, Lori, it's just too much."

The crowd waited expectantly. Legolas stared, his perfect bullseye looked back at him in defiance. Elorelei was the only one moving, trying to get Legolas to stop stalling and take the shot. Finally, she came up with a plan.

"Legolas, our friendship hasn't exactly been at sunshine and lilies, but I swear, this time it's different." 

"How?"

"Because this time I KNOW you can do it."

"Psh, you said that before."

"Okay, throw out all that "I believe in you" junk. **LEGOLAS GREENLEAF!! YOU SPLIT THAT ARROW AND DO IT DAMNED WELL OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND HAVE YOUR BODY PARTS SEVERED ONE-AT-A-TIME!!**"

He shot. He heard the splitting of wood. He collapsed on the ground and let sweet relief do the rest.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"I TOLD you that you were overreacting." Elorelei kept her voice still, but she was dying to laugh.

"Oh, shut up." snapped Legolas, ignoring the young prince who was snickering at him.

"You looked like you were gonna faint right there on the field." Filior smiled, containing his laughs to small outbursts and snorts.

"You wouldn't have done any better!" He insisted.

"Oh, and your opinion on what I would have done matters EVER so much to me! I'm crushed, I tell you! Crushed!" shouted the younger of the princes, melodramatically throwing himself on the floor.

"He's your brother all right..."

Elorelei smiled but didn't say anything. She needed to speak to Legolas alone, but there was no way to get Filior out of the room without him spending the rest of his existence teasing her. 

Thankfully, Eli entered seconds later, looking ruby red in the face. "Uh, Filior, I think now is later."

"Perhaps we should send you to the infirmary then. Do you think up is down and left is right, also?" He replied easily.

"Oh, go on, Filly." Elorelei waved her hand at him to leave. He did so, but cast a look back at her to let her know she would not escape a proper teasing. The door shut behind them and two voices immediately said: "There's something I need to tell you."

"You first," said Elorelei, before Legolas could. He was silent. "Well, if you needed to tell me something, you're supposed to open your mouth so words come out, telling me what you wanted me to hear." She said as if she were talking to a baby. He gave her a simple 'Don't-get-sarcastic' look. She returned it with a 'I-was-born-sarcastic' look, and waited for him to start.

"Do you remember when we first met in the woods?"

She hesistated. "Yes, I remember it. I wondered why you were so far into the East." She watched him, thinking over his words. 

"I was running away."

To his great surprise, she cracked a smile. "Run away? From what?"

"I... I didn't want to be a prince. And I still don't. I've considered running from this castle many times." Elorelei squirmed uncomfortably, emotional conversations didn't suit her, but Legolas continued. "I don't know why I never did. Guess I had a sense of duty. Also, you and Iledian would probabaly track me before I got anywhere." He mused, smiling a little. "Still, my life will change when I return home. They'll be things expected of me. Moments that'll be huge, recorded down in history books for all to remember." He sighed. "I just don't think that's who I am. I don't know who I am and... And I don't want things to change."

Her voice barely rose above a whisper, but Legolas didn't have to strain to hear her. "No one does, Legolas. No one asks for their world to be changed or to know that it's going to change. When the big moments come, you'll have to deal with them. It's not the moment that makes you a prince, or a hero. It's what you do after the moment that defines who you are."

They each took a long, deep breath before Legolas spoke. "I'm glad you're with me, Elorelei."

She looked at the floor. "I won't always be."

"What?"

"Time will go on. We're immortal, we can't always be just... like this."

"Why can't we?!"

"That's not a question for you to ask, Legolas. Life is unpredictable, you can't see the future. You just have to trust that it'll all turn out the way it's supposed to."

"What if it's not?"

"I told you, it's not a question for you to ask. It's a lesson to learn and we're so young... Soon this'll all be a memory." They sat in silence for a while, letting the words sink in. Legolas lived in the West, Elorelei in the East, the chances of them casually running into each other were slim.

"We had a good time didn't we?" His voice was quiet and for a moment, they both forgot that were royalty, they were just friends.

"Yes. We did."

Legolas shook himself. "So, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

**__**

*~*~*~*

"And you've never seen the woman in your life?"

"Not once that I can remember, but she looked strangely familiar."

Legolas stared at the glinting silver in his hands. It was a beautiful thing, but it gave him a deep sense of foreboding. He knew she shouldn't try it on, but his curiousity was growing.

"Maybe you should try it."

She gave him a perplexed look. "... Maybe... after all, what harm could it do?"

They both sat on the roof of the Castle. The silver positively glowing in the sun, begging to be tried on. She looked at it, unnerved, took it from Legolas, then slipped it on.

A/N: Whatever mistakes I made, I made them on purpose. The graduation thing works that way. Why? Because. And, I stole some of Elorelei's 'words of wisdom' from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All credit for that part goes to the writers of that awesome show.


	16. Transformation

****

Chapter Sixteen: Transformations

Filior reread the page twice more before handing it back to Eli. He hadn't understood a word of it. "What does it mean?"

"She has some sort of... genetic trait. It requires her to change her form." Eli explained.

"Do I have it?"

"I don't know. I don't know what it is."

Filior stared at Eli, then back to the page. "So... She's going to change form is what it's saying. What form is she going to take?"

The other elf shrugged. "Heavens if I know. All I know is, she needs a trigger to set it off."

"She's a firesnake," said the young prince.

"Filior..." He gave him a scolding look, then added. "She'd be a water dragon."

"She would not."

"Would too."

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

They both were silenced by the librarian hissing at them to be quiet.

"Would not." whispered Filior, running from the library to escape argument.

**__**

*~*~*~*

She clasped the chain around her neck. The moment Elorelei put the necklace on, she regretted it. Fire leapt up from inside her body, scorching her from the very marrow of her bones. She was vaguely aware of her own screaming while Legolas looked on, horror-struck. 

Something inside melted away and she felt emptier, but the fire had subsided to an uncomfortable heat. Her muscles contracted until her whole body was tensed in some horrible cramp, but they kept cramping, shrinking. She was shrinking. Just as she stopped screaming, she started again. Not from pain, but terror. 

Legolas was frozen in place. He knew he needed to run and get someone, but who? Who would know what to do in this situation? 

Elorelei curled up into a helpless ball. For a moment, he was shocked at how small she could make herself. Then again, this was a shocking position. The once loud piercing screaming she had reduced to animalistic shrieks. It occurred to the prince to be afraid. Elorelei might not have control over what she was becoming. 

What was she becoming? She was getting smaller and her skin was breaking out into small bumps. The bumps grew bigger and rounder, then suddenly, they turned white. He crouched down and looked closer at them. Long white things were protruding through her skin like knives being pushed out from inside. Slowly, they grew out and Legolas had to fight the strong urge he had to throw up as they were stained with ruby red blood and leaking at the lumps they had come from. 

All the while, she continued to shrink and shriek helplessly. Then, all at once, the pain was gone. It was like it had never been there. She shivered and heard a gasp from Legolas, but she didn't move just yet. After deciding that laying there wasn't going to help anything, she rolled over. Pushing herself up one wing-

Hold on.... wing?

She opened her mouth to scream again, except instead there was a proud, yellow beak in place of her mouth and she didn't scream, she shrieked.

"Elorelei.... you're a bird," said Legolas stupidly, staring as if someone had numbed his brain. 

'_Brilliant deduction._' She tried to say, but she only shrieked more. That only made her more frustrated. She waddled on her feathered legs and flapped and jumped awkwardly to get Legolas to say something. '_EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!_' She thought. '_Tell me something!_'

He jumped. "I don't know what to tell you! I don't have an explanation! It's just too weird!" He cried. 

This got her to stop flapping. '_You can hear me?_'

"Y-Yes..." He shuffled uncertainly.

The bird heaved a sigh, which like it was ruffling its feathers. '_Good. What am I?'_

"A bird." repeated Legolas, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The bird squawked and beat its large wings, menacingly. '_What KIND of bird, you empty-headed BLONDE!'_

"Mean brunette." He retorted.

"Legolas?" came an amused voice. "Are you fighting with a bird?"

(A/N: Nyah-nyah-nuh-nyah-nyah.)


	17. First Flight

****

Chapter Seventeen: First Flight

A/N: K, I'm giving you some songs to ponder for this chapter. These I listened to while writing this chapter: **A.** Nelly Furtado's 'I'm Like A Bird' and **B.** Celine Dion's 'Fly'. I know the second song is kind of sad, but still. I'm not saying listen to them, I'm just giving you useless information. That is all. Please return to your regularly scheduled fanfiction.

"Yes, Filior, I'm talking to a bird, who coincidentally is your sister." snapped Legolas, grinding his teeth.

__

"That's bad for your smile.' remarked Elorelei, as if she had been standing there in her elf form and not a white-feathered bird the size of a wolf. She stared at her brother, wondering if he had heard her. Or if he COULD hear her. "_Filly? Can you hear me?_" The two elves looked at Filior expectantly, awaiting his answer.

He stared back. "The bird... is Elorelei?" He asked.

"_YES! It's me, okay!"_ She began to jump and flap her wings again.

"Not so loud," complained Legolas, covering his ears.

"_Like that's gonna help, if my voice is IN YOUR HEAD!"_

"CUT IT OUT!"

"Legolas, **are** you arguing with the eagle?" Filior neared him with caution, finally beginning to doubt the elf's sanity.

He huffed. "I'm not crazy. Elorelei... she- she changed." He gestured to the eagle, who was absentmindedly preening her feathers. 

Filior blinked. He didn't know what he expected- Well, that wasn't right either. '_I expected a firesnake.'_ He thought to himself. He didn't expect to see what he saw. It was a pure white eagle, larger than most, and was the color of snow until the very tips of its feathers, which were silver and gleaming. He wanted to back up, seeing the sharp black talons and beak the eagle had. Elorelei had seemed so dark because of her hair. Why was her bird form so light? "Well, Eli was wrong. THAT'S something." said Filior, sullen sounding.

Legolas felt like someone had whacked him unconcious and he hadn't quite recovered. He stared at the eagle, his mind just barely able to close around the fact that THIS was his best friend.

Elorelei was having a very different reaction. She felt quite comfortable in this form. Her wings were large and powerful, she fanned them out to their fullest and suddenly she got the idea that she should be flying.

"Elorelei, what are you doing?"

"_What?_" She realized she was hanging over the edge of the roof, wings outspread. "_I..._" She backed away reluctantly. "_I don't know._"

Filior peered at her. "You want to fly, don't you?"

She made the bird nod. "_It's hard to explain. I just feel..." _She stopped and her eyes slowly closed.

"What'd she say?" He asked, turning to Legolas.

"She can't explain it, she feels something." He looked at her, worry clouding his steely blue eyes. Her eyes were still closed, and there was a faint hum coming from her.

Elorelei opened her eyes and would've jumped if it weren't so difficult for an eagle. She felt as if she were back home, with the grass and the trees, except now she could see it differently. She saw the inner light in things that brought them to life, everything was alive and glowing. Certain things even made sounds. The trees were beaming with a light like emeralds, brighter than they ever had, and they were singing. She listened calmly to their song, knowing it usually took many centuries of enlightened journeys for an elf to hear the song of trees so clearly.

"_High skies_

blowing winds. 

Feel your light 

deep within. 

Wings of the angels 

spread them wide. 

You are one with us 

and given to fly."

Elorelei listened, losing herself quickly. They repeated the verse, then did another, calling to her. She couldn't help herself. In a split second, she let go of the will keeping her grounded, and was in the air.

A strong updraft of wind caught under her wings and she soared above the castle, winding around the large towers. She looked down, her eyes picked up everything for miles. There was nothing like this, she thought. Nothing. The wind blew her feathers back and carried her higher and the trees sang in glorious choirs, filling her ears and entwining the life force of themselves into her. A tree dozens of feet below was singing particularly loudly, and then she wanted to feel the trees. She wanted to fly through them and feel the leaves brush her. 

Dramatically, she swept her wings back and dived. The air around her whistled while she picked up speed. A scream broke through the beautiful songs.

"SHE'S GOING TO CRASH!"

Who's voice? Her brother's? Legolas? She didn't care. She had to fly. A branch came up, ready to knock her off course, but she'd already seen it coming and levelled out, missing it my only inches. She laughed with joy, opening her beak and expecting a strange bird sound to come out. Instead, she heard her own singing voice, harmonizing with the trees. She flew upward, bursting through the green leaves and singing. This is what she wanted, this freedom. She was free.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Eli came trudging up the stairs, tired and confused. Legolas and Elorelei had gone missing, now Filior. There had been yelling heard on the roof, and he was sent to investigate.

"_Of course, we'll send that healer friend of Elorelei's. He's around all the time, why not?_ Never occured to them I might have something better to do?" He growled bitterly at no one. He hadn't anything better to do, but he didn't really consider that as he traipsed to the stairs. Finally one of the trap doors came into view. He emerged onto the roof only to see none other than the Prince of the West and the Prince of the East, both staring at the sky as if hypnotized.

"THERE you two are. It's a good thi-..." He trailed off, seeing they weren't paying him any attention. "What NOW?"

Legolas began talking, but it was nonsense. "You're going to what?! Don't! I'm not sure if that's-" He didn't finish. Instead he winced and Eli saw what they were looking at. 

An eagle. A huge eagle with perfectly white feathers and silver tipped wings, gliding and diving and swirling in the air. It knocked him into a glazed state with the beauty of it. It fell like a thunderbolt, then shot upward on a warm updraft. The silver glinted almost smugly.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, and was surprised at what came out. "Age dims not her eye, she has seen earth's mortality spring, bloom, and die. She has seen the strong nations rise, flourish, and fall. She mocks at Time's changes, she triumphs over all; She has seen our own land with forests overspread, she sees it with sunshine and joy on its head; And her presence will bless this, her own chosen clime, 'till the Archangel's fiat is set upon time."

Filior actually turned to look at him. "Well said," He hardly whispered. His throat had gone very dry.

Finally, the eagle came flying down and landed on the roof almost elegantly. If it had lips, all three elves were sure it would have been smiling. For a moment no one spoke, then the shape of the bird changed and after only two minutes, Elorelei looked at them all, smiling with pure joy.

(A/N: Disclaimers on what Eli said when he saw Elorelei flying. It's an excerpt from a poem called "The Eagle of Freedom" by Alfred B. Street. I thought it fit, but I had to change it a little. The eagle is referred to as a 'he' in the poem (male chauvinist pigs), I changed it to 'she' (GIRL POWER! Feminism! .... All that good stuff...) And then I changed some of the words so he said "over" instead of "o'er" like to poem. And 'fiat' means 'decree', in case you didn't know. I didn't. If you want to read the real poem, I put it at the bottom of the page. The that song the trees sing is mine, I made it up. So there. If you've seen it somewhere else before this, tell me so I can meet that person and we can talk about how strange it is that we thought of the same song.)

The Eagle of Freedom

0, that Eagle of Freedom! when cloud upon cloud

Swathed the sky of my own native land with a shroud,

When lightnings gleamed fiercely, and thunderbolts rung,

How proud to the tempest those pinions were flung!

Though the wild blast of battle rushed fierce through the air

With darkness and dread, still the eagle was there;

Unquailing, still speeding, his swift flight was on,

Till rainbow of peace crowned the victory won.

0, that Eagle of Freedom! age dims not his eye,

He has seen earth's mortality spring, bloom, and die!

He has seen the strong nations rise, flourish, and fall,

He mocks at Time's changes, he triumphs o'er all;

He has seen our own land with forests o'erspread,

He sees it with sunshine and joy on its head;

And his presence will bless this his own chosen clime,

Till the Archangel's fiat is set upon time.

---Alfred B. Street


	18. Here's To The Night

****

Chapter Eighteen: Here's to the Night

After she had transformed back, (into her leggings and tunic, much to Filior's relief) Elorelei had done something very strange. She had laughed then rushed into Legolas's arms and hugged him. Legolas felt like a great weight he didn't know he had been carrying had lifted from him. Her brother and Eli both knew they were just friends but it was plain they didn't like it.

The necklace was still on her neck, and she made no move to take it off. Eli explained why she had changed, and though they tried it on Filior, nothing had happened. She was careful in putting it back on, but she didn't change again. They had only a week to figure out why Elorelei transformed, then she would leave the castle, Legolas with her. But not for long.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Has he found out anything?" Elorelei walked up behind Legolas, leaning over his shoulder to see what he reading.

He barely acknowledged her for a moment. "Nmm." He muttered by means of a 'no.' Then he realized she was in his room. His room with his MALE friends. His male friends but two things on their minds every minute of every day. Food and flirting. Coincidentally, Elorelei fit into the category of those things. "ELORELEI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!"

She backed up, smiling. "Oh, you can burst into my dorm room any given day but I can't come up for a casual visit?" Legolas wondered faintly if she realized how the other elves in the room stared at her. Then again, she probably wouldn't care if she did know.

Still, he chose be a prick and remind her. "You are not totally immune to the male sex, you know." He said, taking chances by forcibly steering her out of the room.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She was trying to be angry and failing miserably at it. She yanked her arm back as soon as they had reached the common area. 

She knew he would never explain what it meant. "Stop trying to make me uncomfortable." He mumbled, trying to hide his face.

"You already are, I can see you blushing."

"Oh, both of you stop it."

Elorelei turned to look into Jayik's familiar face. He'd apologized for hitting her, but she was a little glad that he had. Outwardly, it hadn't done much for her sharp tongue, but she know had a lot more deal of respect for those she thought deserved it. She batted her lashes innocently at the older elf.

"Stop what?" She purred in mock sweetness.

He shook his head at her. "Come on, it's time."

Legolas looked startled. "Time? Time for what?"

Jayik looked at them strangely. "Why, the graduation ceremony is tomorrow! Don't you want help packing?" Elorelei's jaw dropped. Legolas's throat worked in agitation and disbelief. How could they have forgotten? It had been bothering them both for days.

He looked over at Elorelei and hoped she would say something. She did, but she was barely heard. 

"No," Her voice had suddenly gone dry. "No, we're fine." Before Jayik could ask her something, she disappeared from the room.

Jayik knew a lot of things. No one knew how, but he just always managed to find things out. He went looking for Elorelei and Legolas laughed, knowing he would not find her. Somehow, her being part-eagle had slipped him. She'd be in the air before he could even guess she wasn't on the roof. Legolas jogged off, knowing exactly where to find her.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The same old clearing. The clearing they'd spent half a millenium telling secrets and talking and listening to each other. The only place where Jayik couldn't hunt them down. "_Elorelei? Elorelei, come on out."_ He didn't bother yelling. She could hear him just as well when he thought.

Some trees rustled off to the right. "_I don't wanna." _Her thought voice. She swooped down and landed at Legolas's feet, an emotionless bird on the outside. He frowned, wishing he could disappear into a shell when he didn't want anyone to see he was miserable. He was surprised to see her feathers were ebony black in the dark. "Why didn't you tell Eli your feathers changed?"

She huffed in response and hawk-walked, her back to him. "_You're avoiding the subject."_

He smiled. She saw through him too easily. "Too true, Lori." He sighed. "I wish I could be like you. Just fly away, like you can." He murmured idly, sitting against a tree and watching the beautiful moon. Elorelei returned to her regular form and bit her bottom lip. She knew what could give him wings, even it was only for a little while.

She wasn't surprised when Legolas's eyes shot open. He'd felt her lips on his cheek and didn't know how to react. The next thing he heard was Elorelei saying, "It'll only hurt at the end, I promise." And he started shrinking. He knew what it must look like and he winced from the imagery. The only pain came from the stinging when the feathers grew through his skin, then he stood up (as well as any bird can without looking terribly silly) and shook himself. Elorelei was back in her black-feathered form and looking mightly pleased with herself. Legolas looked dumbstruck. She waited for his fisrt reaction. It was not what she expected.

"_You kissed me._"

She visibly slumped. A slumping bird is very odd-looking. "_I had to. I wanted to show you this._" She hopped over to the waterside and pointed her wing at the water. "_Look at yourself_."

He did. His feathers were very different than Elorelei's. They were an icy color. Not pure white, but just off. The tip of his wings and tail were a metallic gold. He didn't hear the tree songs, like Elorelei did, but he felt the hum and glow of life in things. He would've been blown away, but his mind was occupied.

"_You still kissed me._" He added, stretching his wings.

"_I know. I'm starting to regret it. Come on, let's fly." _She beat her wings, signalling take off.

Legolas stared her, his mind still slightly numb from the different reactions he had to the kiss. "_Fly?_"

She didn't wait to explain. The eagle mind would take over, and it wasn't long before she saw the just off-white wings soaring next to hers. "_Having fun?"_

Legolas laughed at the smile in her voice. She was right, this was greater than anything he'd ever known. The wind flowed through his feathers and carried him higher and higher until he dove magnificently. He felt free, he felt alive this night. He would never forget that feeling, as long as he lived. Which would be exceptionally long. Of defying everything of the world below, of letting go of it all and holding onto that freedom. Then turning to see his best friend, feeling everything he was. He would always have- No. No, he wouldn't. That evil poison of a thought seeped into his mind.

"_Come on, Legolas. Quit it." _He told himself, but he kept thinking of it. Tomorrow we be here FAR too soon. Then she would step out of his life. The thought became unbearable. He landed softly on a branch, and let his wings rest. Elorelei came swooping next to him, concern was coming from her, he felt it. A tear came down his feathered face, then he was elven again.

"Legolas? Are you okay?"

He knew someone was gonna cry that night. He didn't know it would be him. Elorelei looked so taken aback when she saw his tears, she was too stunned to comfort him for several moments. He was finally calmed when she hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder like a puppy. It assuaged him a little, but not much. So many thoughts ran through his mind. So many things he'd be ashamed if she ever knew-

"You're not weak, Legolas. You're the strongest person I know."

He jumped a little. "How did you know I was think-"

"I see it in your eyes."

He looked down, reddening in the face. She knew so much already, what was the point in keeping it from her. "I can't let you go. I can't let this go." With a swift hand movement, he indicated the serene forest, the Castle, the river, their clearing, all of it.

"You have to."

They sat there in silence. Everything was so quiet, Legolas heard his own heart beating. She didn't say anything, but consoled him quietly. It worked, and then Legolas realized she had been singing in a whispered voice. It made tears well in his eyes again, and he tried not to think of it. He'd made a home here, he'd made an irreplacable friend. By the time sun peeked over the horizon, Elorelei had fallen asleep on his arm.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Jayik helped them load the last of their things onto the carriage. He couldn't figure out where Legolas and Elorelei had been all night, which was an entirely new experience for him. They wouldn't answer him when he asked, and when Celidia came sweeping down to them (having grown more beautiful and miles more concieted), she held out a soft, well-cared for hand to Legolas. He shook it as if she were a war general, then hopped in next to Elorelei. Jayik said goodbye to them, promising to write when he could. Then the carriage rode off and the only thing left was the imprint of the wheels in the dust. He sighed, and turned back inside.

As beautiful as it was outside, Elorelei slept pretty much the whole way. She leaned against the wall of the inside of the carriage and was fast asleep. Celidia couldn't sit next to Legolas, Elorelei had shifted her legs so they were laying on the seat. She'd never sleep on Legolas's shoulder, not even with his consent, but would wake up at intervals and look at him with twinkling eyes. He'd look back and they'd both laugh. Celidia wondered what happened to the once charming boy she'd met on the way over here. To be fair, her idea of charm was having someone cater to her every whim. 

Still, she tried anyway. "Well, Legolas, how was your stay?"

Legolas nodded as if that answered the question. When he saw it didn't, he replied, "Hopefully as lovely as I wish yours to have been." This was too much for the half-asleep Elorelei and she split up into sleepy laughs. He smiled at her, but was worried. She'd been very lethargic, and graduation was not really all that tiring. "Still tired, Lori?"

She nodded faintly, worrying him worse than ever. The carriage gave one more flounce, then they stopped. Legolas frowned.

"What's-"

"FIRST STOP! The Palace of the Royal Family of the East! Whitecloud!"

"We're here? Already?"

Elorelei opened one eye, then the other. "We didn't even stop!" She sat up fully, shaking herself. 

Minele appeared in the carriage doorway. "Darling!" She cried upon seeing her daughter. Legolas scoffed. Elorelei was hardly a 'darling.' "We're so glad to see you home!"

The Prince shifted, uncertain of whether or not to acompany her out, until she called to him.

"Legolas, come on! You have to meet my family!" Elorelei looked happy to be home, but was talking like she didn't realize that had to split up.

"Um, I don't think-" But that was the end of that, as she reached in and drew him outside.


	19. Keep the Faith

A/N: Only reason for the title of the chapter is because 'Keep the Faith' by Michael Jackson was stuck in my head and that seemed to be the only way to get it out.

****

Chapter Nineteen: Keep the Faith

Elorelei stomped her foot and looked about the kitchen. Seeing no one, she frowned. "MAEHAR! YOU'RE NEVER AROUND, BUT I NEED YOU!" 

Instead, Legolas poked his head in. "What are you doing in here?" Something smelled incredibly good; he could almost taste it already.

She looked up from stirring the pot of whatever she was making. "Cooking, can you get Maehar, please?"

"Can I taste it?"

"No. Get Maehar please, Legolas?"

"Um, actually, I've been meaning to ask you something." He stepped in a little more now, biting his bottom lip. "I was wondering, how long am I staying?"

Elorelei shrugged. "It was Felly's idea. I think your parents are coming for a conference in a few days."

He nodded, disturbed that this wasn't bothering her. He didn't know how to say it, though. So he did as she asked and tracked Maehar down.

He huffed after Legolas had found him. He was stretched out comfortably in a chair, handling the details of the conference. "Oh, what now?" He bowed respectfully to the Prince, then turned from the room. Legolas took his seat, and sat down to think.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Almost a week later, Minele fit a sparkling circlet on Elorelei's head. "You do remember how to act in the presence of company?"

"Of course, the ceremonial throwing of horse dung, followed by the tripping of the guests." Elorelei laughed in reply. Minele hit her with a soft backhand. "Okay, okay, I remember. Bow a lot, mind my manners, don't give my opinion." She knew quite well how to behave, but she cleverly never said she would.

Minele made a sound of semi-approval. "Oh, Legolas, dear, don't you look handsome?" Elorelei fidgeted uncomfortably. "Maybe you can get this girl to let her hair-" Minele's long fingers reached for Elorelei's hair tie, but the princess's hand snapped back and stopped it.

"NO." For all she had done to Minele, she had never been quite so bold as to grab her to forcefully and tell her what to do. As much as she hated the fact, her mother WAS Queen.

Legolas flinched in the doorway. No one said anything, but Elorelei let go of Minele's hand. Before she could apologize, the Queen fled the room, looking hurt and angry.

Elorelei sighed dejectedly and pulled her hair tie out, not on accident. She had forgotten Legolas had never seen her like that and remembered just a moment too late. "Oops." 

Legolas swallowed the sudden something that had bubbled up in his stomach.

Instead of grabbing all her hair up, she just rearranged it, moving the silver crown to a more favorable position. It was too late now, no point in hiding what she had. Sighing, she pushed away from the vanity and stood up. "Well," Her arms dropped to her sides in a shrug. "How do I look?" It was a shiny silver gown, made of the same material as her last one, embroidered with white satin flowers. She wore a thin, platinum belt with it, embedded with pearls. Her head wore only a crown and nothing else. Her hair was long, clean, untouched, and an almost fiery black. Legolas reached over and pulled a few wisps of hair so they hung in front of her.

"Perfect."

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Is it my imagination, or does Legolas look not happy to see us?" His father was teasing, but Legolas was not.

He bowed. "Father." His voice was regal, formal, not the tone one usually used with family. His mother did that horrible face-wrinkling thing that made him shiver before he acknowledged her as well. "_I wish I had run away_." He thought to himself. His parents loved him. Really they did. He knew that, but sometimes it seemed they cared more about him glorifying their family than him. "I want you to meet Princess Elorelei."

"Legolas, did you- Oh, hello." She smiled politely as she knew how at the Queen asnd King and bowed respectfully. Legolas wanted to laugh. Elorelei and polite mingling simply did not go hand-in-hand with each other.

The mother looked appalled by what Elorelei had just said. "I'll ask you to address my son as PRINCE Legolas, my dear."

Legolas bit his lip, embarrassed, but said nothing. Elorelei stared at the Queen (Eilea was her name) like she wanted to reach right over and slap her. "You're Legolas's mom?" She spoke through her teeth, clearly disgusted by this woman.

The Queen drew herself up, barely taller than Elorelei herself. "I am his mother, and I'll ask you again to address him properly. He is PRINCE." 

Instead, she did something much more insulting. She looked right past her and stepped up to Legolas, Completely disregarding her mother's appalled glance, she said, "_Legolas_," She repeated, not adding "prince" at all. "Where've you been? My grandfather wants to speak with you."

"Young lady-"

"That's Princess to you, you puffed-up, overbearing-" Elorelei snarled something or other under her breath.

Legolas laughed out loud. "ELORLEI!"

"Come on, Legolas. Grandpapa gets impatient." And turned him away without so much as a 'good day'.

Legolas snickered as they walked away. "I knew you couldn't keep that up for that long."

"I HATED that woman as a child. She called me 'Pretty Little Princess' and looked at me like I was stupid when she came once. SHE BROUGHT ME A DOLL TO PLAY WITH SO I WOULDN'T GET IN THE WAY!" The prince fell to the ground, laughing hysterically. Elorelei playing with a doll was just too much. "Legolas, come on, get up. I was serious about my grandfather." Legolas nodded, the ghost of a smile still in his face.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"How fares Legolas, my dearest?" Felair smiled at his daughter, his sparrow.

Elorelei blinked. "He's quite fine, what's Grandpapa talking to him about?"

Felair's smile slipped as if it had stumbled on a rock. "Nothing of your concern, sparrow. But..." He paused. He couldn't do this, not to his own child. But what COULD he do? Drop the blame on his wife? True, she was to blame, but wasn't he the King? "Minele... has made arrangements for your marriage." He said, softly. She opened her mouth, but he knew what she was thinking. "To the Prince of the South, not to Legolas."

Elorelei stared, remembering Jayik's hand hitting her across the face. This stung even more. "Cancel these arrangements." She said, her voice was high and panicky and her pride took a deep blow because of it. "I am not ready to marry."

"You are almost a millennia old. You must choose a husband." Felair choked out the words as best he could. _This was law_. "This is law," _It had to be done_. "It has to be done."_ I don't want you to, my sparrow, I love you. I hate to see you suffer so_. He did not add this, but looked at his daughter, becoming short of breath.

"CHANGE the law."

"I cannot, dearest. You must marry him."

Her fathers voice quaked, she thought he was going to cry. Her father did NOT cry. "I will not. Minele has gone too far. She cannot dictate my life AND my love." He stared. "I will not marry him, you cannot force me."

Felair opened and closed his mouth, lost for words. "Sparrow... please..."

"DAUGHTER! Come, there is someone I wish you to meet!" Minele's voice. 

Elorelei had never before felt such bitter hatred for it, and she turned to look her father in the eye. "I'll not marry him, I will not." She walked out before her father could stop her.

"There you are. This is Prince Evandar, from the South."

Elorelei curtsied, spying Legolas entering the room from another door. With one glance, she knew he knew. "_I won't._" She told him in her mind, hoping he could hear her.

"Elorelei, are you listening? I've arranged for you two to be wed."

"No."

Minele looked at Elorelei, but in a harsh way. She wasn't looking at her, but through her. "No? My dearest, you have no choice. This marriage has been made since you left for the Castle. I give him you."

The princess shrugged. "It does not matter. I have a choice."

"You don't!" The Queen insisted, a wildness lacing her usually prim voice.

"You're wrong," said Elorelei shortly. "You did not send me to that Castle to learn how to become a half-wit, did you?"

"But- but, daughter, I'm afraid your only other option is-"

"I am not your toy. I am not yours to give." She removed her crown. "And as of now, I am not your daughter."


	20. Fly Away From Here

A/N: Your lyrics to ponder for this next chapter are Limp Bizkit's Boiler and It'll Be Ok, okay?

****

Chapter Twenty: Fly Away From Here

"Elorelei, you don't mean to do this. Reconsider."

"I have, Legolas, many times. I'm leaving."

Legolas looked on helplessly while Elorelei packed up what little things she felt she had earned in her life. He had looked in as many elven law books as the Whitecloud's possessed and pleaded with her night and day. He even insisted going with her, but she was adamant he did not.

"Legolas, I've been waiting my whole life for an opportunity to arise where I was legally able to free myself of the crown. I did not realize I would also be freeing myself of my family and home, but that's the price I will pay. You will not."

So she was going, nothing anyone could say would stop her. She was tired of Minele, looking down on her and taking control of everything. She had to stop it, and stop it she would.

Iledian neighed impatiently, everything was packed and the horse was not looking forward to the journey ahead of them. Legolas watched Elorelei sling her quiver on her back, then approach him, bearing a bow wrapped in a green cloth.

"Watch this for me. Don't let anyone see it... just keep it safe. I'll come back for it." She promised. 

He grasped her hand, hoping something profound would come to him, making her stay so that they would figure this out. He couldn't say anything, but not from lack of trying. He barely heard his mother yelling in the background about misconduct, didn't feel his father's hand on his back, pulling at him. All he knew was he was kissing Elorelei, the one person in his life he felt like he didn't have to hide anything from. Nothing else in the world mattered. Then, in an instant, that one beautiful moment, the most wonderful moments of his life, it was over. He realized what he'd done.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't-"

She put a hand over his mouth. "Legolas, shhh. I can't say I didn't enjoy that, but I want to leave here knowing you're my friend. I know you as that alone. I don't have time to see what it could be like for me to love you."

He looked at the ground, torn between giddiness and misery. I understand."

Elorelei leaned into his ear, holding him as tightly as she could. It was painful, in more ways than one. "It'll be okay." She stroked his hair, comforting herself more than him. "There's somewhere else... I can start all over. I'll be okay, I'll come back. Just... wait for me."

He nodded. "I will, I swear." She didn't notice him slipping his royal ring into her bag. It was she who had taught him that trick.

"Legolas? Don't regret... anything."

He looked at her, knowing what she meant. "What?"

"I don't regret what's happened to us. What's done is done, don't regret it. Goodbye." She turned and hopped on Iledian and rode off. She didn't look back.


	21. Interlude: Waiting for You

A/N: Hrm, hoom. Ah'm back! That last chapter (unfortunately) was not the end. I wouldn't be that cruel... yes, I would. Anyhoo, I had to fix the song in this so it didn't sound romanc-y. The song is by Richard Marx, called Right Here Waiting. (At least I think.) Here's the Inter... Inter... mission... quest... thing. (SQUEE! PIPPIN!)

  
  


INTERLUDE: Waiting For You

  
  


Oceans apart, day after day

And I slowly go insane

I hear your voice, on the [wind]

But it doesn't stop the pain

  
  


It started out so hard, he thought he might slip into madness. Turning around, expecting a face that wasn't there. Legolas hadn't been without his best friend for almost a millennia, but all of a sudden, he was. She rode off into the North ages ago. She had probably crossed the Great River. He'd taught himself to believe he'd never see her again.

  
  


If I see you next to never

How can we say forever?

  
  


He lived right next to the Eastern border. He'd moved to his father's castle there right after she had left, hoping that if any news came of her, he would be near enough to get it. Nothing. Even so, he didn't move home. He told everyone who would listen that it was too much of a hassle to, but in his heart he hoped...

  
  


Wherever you go

Whatever you do

I will be right here waiting for you

  
  


His family said he was being foolish, waiting for someone who wasn't coming back. Such bitter words stung him deeply, the thought that his very family would have his heartbreak than accept his loyalty to his friend.

  
  


Whatever it takes

Or how my heart breaks

I will be right here waiting for you

  
  


All those long years he had spent with her meant little to him while they passed. While they slipped from his uncaring hands. No matter what he shared with her, he never held it as precious as he should have. He tried to find her, but she had totally disappeared. She was out of his reach.

  
  


I took for granted, all the times

That I though would last somehow

I hear the laughter, I taste the tears

But I can't get near you now

  
  


Word wandered around the four lands of his strange behavior. A prince, wasting foolishly away in some valley. Aching for a long lost friend. Losing his mind. At times, Legolas believed he was going insane.

  
  


Oh, can't you see that maybe

You've got me goin' crazy

  
  


It crossed his mind that she may be dead. Then he remembered why she left. She was too strong to die. She would come back. He would wait.

  
  


Wherever you go

Whatever you do

I will be right here waiting for you

  
  


Unknown to him, turmoil was stirring in the kingdoms. His family called him home to help. King Felair sent an envoy for him to attend royal councils. Legolas considered them, but not seriously. He must wait, it would pain him not to.

  
  


Whatever it takes

Or how my heart breaks

I will be right here waiting for you

  
  


Too much trouble came. He was forced to leave by his own guilt. His kingdom and his people were depending on him. He was cracking under the weight. Every night that he stayed under the stars on his way home, he thought of her and if she was looking at the same stars. Did she know he tried to wait? Would she forgive him?

  
  


I wonder how we can survive

This friendship

But in the end if I'm with you

I'll take the chance

  
  


Legolas was home. He felt even madder here than he had in the forest with only a few servants. He became comfortable with his surroundings again. He had been in the forest for centuries, almost three hundred years. He still couldn't forget her.

  
  


Oh, can't you see that maybe

You've got me goin' crazy

  
  


Queen Eilea tried to tempt her son. She brought in beautiful elves with long locks of golden hair. Legolas thought they were nothing like the dark waves of her hair, not half so long, either. But he saw them and even liked some of them. Yet his heart was still in the East, waiting.

  
  


Wherever you go

Whatever you do

I will be right here waiting for you

Whatever it takes

Or how my heart breaks

I will be right here waiting for you

  
  


Even Northerners would be coming down soon for meetings. Time moved swiftly by. Much was happening. Legolas pushed all thoughts of her to the back his mind, but they were still there. He was still waiting in the deepest part of him. He would always wait for her...

  
  


Waiting for you...


	22. Part Two: Your Secrets

__

Part Two: Your Secrets

A/n: K, more lyrics for this one. 1 A.M. by Beautiful Creatures (a most kick ass band), but here's the part I mainly used to write this chapter.

__

I was just about a breath away 

When I was thinkin' 'bout the words you tried to say 

That you'd stand by me that you cared for me 

But in the end you mother f***in' lied to me 

1 A.M. and I'm cold again 

I'm alone again and I need a friend 

Feeling down in the dirt again 

Getting burned again 

Where the hell are you?

****

Disclaimer: Short disclaimer on the phoenixes. They're like the Harry Potter ones. If you haven't read Harry Potter, I'm very sorry to inform you, you have no taste in books. I will not explain phoenixes to a Harry-hater. Think large, extravagent bird. But pay attention to them anyway, they might become important. (Or they might not, I just enjoy taunting.)

****

Chapter Twenty-One: Call of the East

"Prince Legolas?"

Legolas sighed. How he loathed that title. When was the last time he heard his name? His REAL name? "I am he, what is it?"

The messenger elf drew himself up, importantly. "A message from the East. They are holding the trials in a few days, your presence is requested."

The prince shook his head. "Trials? I know nothing of it. I'm sure my father will be happy to go in my-"

"NO, your highness. They request your arrival, specifically." 

Legolas wanted to slap the messenger for his insolence, but he shoved that thought away. It was nothing but a trait of his father's he did not want. "Allright," Still wanting to exercise his power, he added, "And do not interrupt me again, unless you want to be running messages on the stumps that were once your legs."

The poor messenger had began to sweat from the moment he dared to interrupt Legolas, so he bowed out as quickly as he could, trying to stop the shaking in his bones.

Legolas folded the letter up and slipped it into his robes. "The East..." He muttered to himself, he hadn't set foot there in eight hundred years. The loneliest eight hundred years of his life, after she had left. "Ha, here I am again. One A.M., feeling sorry for myself and longing for a lost friendship." The words left his mouth before he thought them and he felt the bitter stinging on his heart. He hadn't given up on her, he just liked to pretend he had. _Heart, be still, no more of this._ "KIRAN!"

"Sir? Did you call?" His red-haired servant poked his head in the room. He was no more than a boy, and would be going to the Castle in time.

Legolas fought the memories of the wretched place from his mind. "Ay, saddle my horse. I'm leaving."

The boy looked at him, confused. "Sir?"

"I am called to the East. Do as I say." He turned his back on Kiran and walked to his room. Kiran followed.

"Shall I tell your mother and father you have gone?"

"Yes, Kiran, now DO AS I SAY!" He snapped, annoyance turning to anger.

The boy winced and backed out of the room. "Yes, your highness."

Legolas sighed, putting some food in a bag for the trip. It wasn't his fault everyone was being so damned irritating. At least now he could get away from home for a few days. Everyone in the whole palace was insistant on him choosing a bride and preparing to take the throne and other things he should be doing. He would've much preferred not to do anything.

"Hmph, the East." He was still talking to himself when he entered the stables at daybreak. No one would be awake for another couple of hours, not even the garden phoenixes were stirring yet. "Is my horse ready?"

"Yes sir."

Legolas could tell from Kiran's voice that he was scared. He didn't waste time reassuring him. "I'll send word when I am to return."

"But sir, I won't be here," He looked ecstatic about it. "Who am I to turn my duties over to?"

"Whoever you feel is qualified. I trust your judgment." The prince trusted nothing of the sort, but he felt no need to say so. "I'll be back soon."

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Father? Has Prince Legolas come yet?"

King Felair did not look up from his book. "I told you, Filior, he is on his way. Why such urgency?"

The young prince shrugged. "Things would just... go a lot smoother if he came before the Northerners did, that's all."

The King finally glanced upward. "And why is that?" Filior smiled mysteriously and left the room. Felair looked back down. His son had been jumpy over these last days. They were sending one elf to go amongst mortals yet again. Lumaeus had been the last one to do such a thing. But now they had perfected the spell, now no elf would age past what they were considered in the mortal realm. It was safe, but Filior seemed more wary and distant since the topic arose. Felair couldn't have that. Not after his daughter had left him. 

He slammed the book down. Thinking of that made him ill and he couldn't stand that. It hurt him just to look at his wife. Not even he knew what had become of his only daughter, and it was Minele who had driven her away.

"King Felair?"

The elder elf jerked himself from his thoughts. "Oh, well-met Prince Legolas." He remembered Legolas. The last time he saw the young one happy was with Elorelei. "You made good time."

"I had a good horse," he replied stiffly. The overall air of him was colder than when they last met. His family was turning him into the hard, dictating overlord they wanted him to be.

Felair sighed. "That is good."

The Prince shifted. "Pardon me, King Felair, but why was I summoned and not my father?"

"I don't know, it was on Filior's insistence you came at all." He looked around for a nearby maid. "Take Prince Legolas to his bedchambers, please."

He glanced at the maid, she looked terrified at the thought of showing him to anywhere. "I am sure I can find it for myself. I have not forgotten the palace walls." _Believe me, I've tried._

Felair looked at him oddly for a moment then sighed. "Very well. And please, enjoy yourself before tomorrow night. The trials are exhausting."

"What trials?"

"We're choosing one to enter the mortal realm again. It is grueling."

Legolas knew this all too well. He father had been present at the first trals when Lumaeus was selected. They were the only thing King Rykim talked about with fear in his voice. "WHY?"

"Tomorrow," the King said simply, then left the room.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Legolas stared out over the green hills of the East. Farther still were mountains, and farther still was his home. He liked it much better when he wasn't there.

"Homesick already?" A familiar voice.

Legolas turned. "Filior... You have grown." He had, his hair was no longer a frosty blonde, but snow white like his father's. His hair wasn't tied back, but worn loosely, without braids to hinder it. He was well-muscled and had the look of a great sword-fighter, but his sea-green eyes were cool, playful, and betrayed too much about his true self.

He nodded. "I can't say you have, except you look a little more..." He searched his vocabulary for an unoffending word.

"Old?" Legolas suggested. The younger prince nodded again. He laughed. "I suppose so... Why did you want me here, Filior?"

"You miss her," He replied. Immediately, Legolas did all he could not to listen but the words bored into his mind. "You miss her as much as I do."

Legolas's short fuse was shortening quickly. "And what of it?"

"Someone," The prince sounded almost gleeful. "Someone is coming who will be able to find her-"

"NO ONE can find Elorelei, Filior. SHE IS GONE. You waste your time-"

The prince was adamant. "This elf is a great hunter with many followers. They will find her, she will come back."

Legolas finally could take no more. "Out of my way, your brains have been in addled in my absence." The door slammed behind him and Filior was left alone.

"... I wonder when he'll remember that this is his room?" He said aloud, then turned and walked out through a different door. He spent the whole night in his own room, waiting for tomorrow night's trials.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Where are you going, young prince?"

Legolas stopped walking, or rather stomping, down the hall at the sound of Lumaeus's voice. _Young? You think me young? I am 1,600. I am not young._ He willed himself into not speaking these disrespectful words and instead said, "To the forest, to clear my head for tomorrow."

The old man smiled. "My granddaughter's forests," He looked lost in a world he invented in his head. Legolas wanted to turn around and scream that the man's granddaughter was gone. Six hundred years had he waited for her, and she never even sent so much as a letter. Lumaeus looked back up. "Be careful," he warned. "Do not harm anything there, or she will know."

Why did everyone assume she was alive? It infuriated Legolas beyond all reason. She was not coming back, she was gone for good. Dead or alive, he didn't care. He felt abandoned and the mentioning of her around every corner he turned was driving him insane. Still, he held himself together and nodded stiffly in reply.

The night air gave him a type of freedom he felt almost as soon as he stepped outside. The forest sat still, as if it were patiently waiting for him. He was drawn to it, like it was the thing that had called him here. It also released emotions he did not want to feel. Loneliness, hurt, helplessness, and a bubbling rage. He could only say one thing when he was like this. Even if she didn't hear him, he had to say it. His eyes stung and his throat choked on itself.

"You promised." He said to the forest. She wasn't there, but he could tell it had been hers. She was still hanging in the air, still connected to this place. "You promised to come back." The forest swayed soothingly, but it did no good. He sat there, listening to the trees and waiting. He shut his eyes as he realized it. For three hundred years, he thought he had given up. But here he was. Back in the East. Waiting.


	23. The Northerners

****

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Northerners

A servant-girl fluttered about Legolas, dodging to-and-fro, perfecting this-and-that on his outfit. He could barely sit still without her making little fussy noises and frowning at him. She was very jumpily getting the ties around his tunic together when there was a loud sound. It sounded like drums being played very far off. Lots of drums. The servant girl's hands were messing about his face, when he could stand no more and shoved them away.

"Shh! Do you hear that?" Of course, he should've said "feel" by now, the sound was so strong the ground began to rumble. Out of sheer stupidity, he could not put his finger on that sound. It came to him in the split second between him stepping forward and out onto the balcony where he could see. 

They were hoof-beats. Almost a dozen, no fourteen, fourteen horses with fourteen riders were pounding down the pathway to the palace. The steeds were all black except for one, riding in front, which was only black at the mane. He almost smiled. It looked like Iledian, but it was not. The Northerners had come at last. 

The horses charged on, obviously recently refreshed. The riders all wore black cloaks, but the hoods were thrown back, making different shades of gold and yellow shimmer. The rider on the black-maned horse remained with a hood over his face. As they dismounted, an abstract circle was formed around this one, Legolas watching carefully. He could see nothing of this elf's face.

Filior came up from behind Legolas. "That is the leader, Andulin. His wife should be in one of those black robes, but I do not see her." 

Legolas nodded at the prince then looked down haughtily. "Do they always make such an entrance?"

He nodded. "They are the best assassins, warriors, archers, swordsman, what have you. They have a right to such an entrance. Anything to do with battle, they are the best in the whole of the land."

The western prince turned away, unimpressed. "Where are we meeting?"

"The main hall."

**__**

*~*~*~*

"King Felair, the Northerners have arrived." Maehar's disapproving face reminded the King strongly of Minele.

"I know, Maehar, I hear them." His last encounter with elves from the North made him doubt his wanting to be a king and have to deal with all kinds. However, that could not be helped now and he threw on a menacing-looking robe of burgundy and black and walked out into the entrance hall.

Vandelar the elf hopped off his black steed as the servants of the East King came and led them inside. He looked back at the horses, and the black maned one looked on the verge of panic.

"Leave that one." He instructed.

The horse-handler gave him a look of strong dislike. "It will run wild."

"Perhaps because it IS wild. However, if you insist on being stomped into the dirt, I'll not stand in your way."

Vandelar smirked as the steed was left alone, then he turned to look inward on the protective circle the group had formed. "I am not sure this plan will work, my liege." He muttered to his hooded leader.

"Neither am I," Was the reply. "But we'll try it anyway. If they see through it, there's not much they can do."

"I beg to differ." He looked up at the King, striding toward them feigning fiery defiance. The leader would take that away immediately, but he was still wary.

"Andulin, warrior of the North, I'd welcome you properly, if I could see you." The King wanted to wince. He was a jokester by nature, but he wasn't sure if Northerners had a sense of humor. Andulin gave a wave of one gloved hand and the front of the circle parted. Felair cleared his throat. "Which one of your men will be in the trails."

"Our leader will be in the trials, King Felair," said Vandelar. 

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "We do not want to risk any-"

"Our leader is adamant that he participate in the trials."

Felair was losing his patience. "Can your leader speak for himself?"

Another warrior, Fenra, closed the circle just a little. "No, I'm afraid he can't." The warriors looked more imposing that ever, but none more than Andulin. In the middle of the circle, face hidden, quietly controlling the action of the others, he was the most powerful of all. 

Even Felair could feel that. He stopped yelling and swallowed in a way he hoped wasn't nervously. "Very well, someone will show you all to your rooms."

They all nodded and waited for him to go, but somehow the King did not feel right turning his back to them. It was disrespectful for them to turn on him, so he had no choice. 

As he walked away, Vandelar leaned into the circle. "This may work."

The hooded figure smirked, though no one saw it. "If we are careful... Do not overprotect me like this all the time."

"My liege, that is risky. There are some here that would have you killed. We are your friends, but we are also your soldiers, we must stay by you."

The leader sighed. "Yes, always keep your friends close." Vandelar looked relieved. "But keep your enemies closer." 

Vandelar kicked the dirt in frustration, but the figure remained still. "You and I will watch those that are a threat. Tell Fenra and the others to watch the King and the Prince."

"Which prince?" said Vandelar, glumly.

The leader looked up at him. "What? What do you mean?"

"Prince Legolas of the West is here, also."

There was an uncomfortable silence. A wind blew past, threatening to blow off the hood of the leader. "That will complicate things. Keep an eye on all three."

Choosing not to ask questions, the fourteen elves were led to inside the palace.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Something was wrong with this situation. Filior felt it. When Vandelar had shown up to the first meeting instead of Andulin, he didn't think anything of it. Now, Andulin was avoiding talking all costs, he only whispered to Vandelar, and when he did talk, his voice was raspy, deep, and snake-like. Suspiscion was waved by Vandelar finally being forced to tell the court that Andulin had been attacked on their last mission in the Far North. He'd taken very serious damage to the throat, but they had healers look at it, and they had been optimistic. But Filior's doubts rose again when they refused help from Elihar Silvermoon. Eli was the best, and just to have him look at it, he could've healed it or improved it greatly. They said no with such finality, he didn't press it.

Filior courteously knocked on Andulin's door. He'd seen Vandelar skulking around he stables, and no doubt, Andulin had been left to his own devices.

"Sir Andulin?"

"Come in..." That snakelike voice sent chills through his bones as he pushed the door open. "How can I help you, Prince Filior?" Filior stared. Andulin was still hooded. Was his face that horrible? "I suggest you state your business."

The prince jumped. "Oh, yes, forgive me." 

The hooded elf waved a hand in a dismissive manner. "Think nothing of it. Tell me why you are here."

"My sister, Elorelei, she disappeared years ago." Filior paused, waiting for Andulin to tell him this was ridiculous, but the other elf said nothing. "It is rumored she went North. Have you heard nothing of her?"

"Her name again?"

The prince brightened. "Elorelei."

Andulin sighed. "I want to say I know her, but I'm afraid I do not."

"But you are a hunter? Could you track her down? Find her?"

Filior wondered if Andulin was part cat. He was sure that if the great hunter had a tail, it would be slowly twitching, thoughtfully. "We shall discuss this after the trials. Speak with your father, also."

Legolas listened around the corner, smirking at Filior, unwilling to admit he also hoped against hoped that Andulin could find her.


	24. The Truth

****

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Truth

Lumaeus Whitecloud stood, overseeing a large collection of elves, all of them were masked totally, with hoods drawn down over their faces. His son, Felair, was sweating with nervousness. "My son, you must calm yourself."

"These trails are intense, father... they're horrific... and we must watch them. I'm afraid I cannot be calm."

Lumaeus said nothing, but turned his attention back to the field. "Warriors! Listen, and listen well!" His voice was still strong and powerful. There was no need to raise it anymore. "What you experience will be pain... pain you can't see... pain you can't hear... pain you won't even know is coming until it hits you." A breathless, fearful calm came over everyone. Lumaeus had a way with words. "I'm happy to inform you, that is your only test. You withstand the pain, you are chosen. However, only one of you will withstand the pain for the designated time. Just one."

A voice from the sidelines spoke out. "What if there are-"

"THERE WILL BE JUST ONE. I guarantee it. If you feel the need to surrender, remove your hood."

Legolas, standing on the side, shivered. What was so horrible about it? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. A Western archer was among those hooded, but Legolas didn't know which one he was. It was dark out and the night was unusually hot. Bugs and creatures of the night buzzed, impatient with the heat and the large collection of elves.

Then, quite suddenly, it happened. Legolas thought he had screamed, but a great number had, so there was no way to tell. Those hooded fell to their knees and a bright wave of light passed over them and kept shining. It was brilliant and blinding, but Legolas's eyes adjusted when he realized the light was not touching the darkness around it. He looked for the elves being tried and saw them, writhing like large, black snakes. Then he saw why.

The light was not shining on them... It was shining through them. He could see their skeleton, and their elven hearts beating and pounding against their rib cages. This wasn't right, wasn't right at all. Their bones were glowing a very unsettling red. He wasn't surprised when the first elf threw off his hood. Immediately, the light stopped shining through him and he collapsed, breathing heavily. No one moved to help him. The screaming started shortly after that. It was horrible, Legolas felt he could hear it in his mind, except it sounded like a female.

Felair shut his eyes and looked away. Every time one elf quit, the light would grow stronger. If no one knew their limits, their heart would burst from the strain. He looked at the Western prince, watching with horror in his eyes, but unable to look away. King Felair followed the gaze and saw one heart, beating ferociously quicker than the rest. "Remove your hood," He silently commanded, knowing that it was hopeless. Faster and faster it went, the screams of the elf were great, but he thought he could withstand the strain. He couldn't, and Legolas's vision went dark as he saw the elven man's heart burst into as million pieces.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Legolas creaked his eyes open, then remembered what he happened, and shut them tighter.

"Don't be ashamed, boy, you weren't the only witness who lost consciousness."

Too tired to grumble at Lumaeus calling him a boy, Legolas opened his eyes and vaguely saw ten or elven elves, knocked out cold with maids tending to them.

"Who... who..." A maid suddenly put water to his lips and he drank, his throat had been dry. "Who won?"

"The warrior Andulin. He is still hooded. Once the rest are awoken, we can proceed with the ceremonies."

**__**

*~*~*~*

Filior's throat worked impatiently as he sat on a throne beside his father, mother, and grandfather. He hadn't planned on Andulin actually winning. There was little he could do now and two elves had died trying to withstand the pain of the Light. Legolas, and two other princes from the North and South also stood up alongside the throne, taking their place as royalty. The rest of the court was seated below, except Eli, who had a high place with the King and was seated like a prince.

Andulin kneeled before them, his face entirely covered and he looked down. Unbeknownst to the royals, a terror like nothing anyone ever felt was racing through the strong one as an honored servant came forward with outstretched fingers to remove the hood and reveal Andulin's face for the first time since the test. Filior cast a look at Andulin's men, Vandelar's jaw was set in defiance. Why that was, the prince could not put his finger on. He watched closer as Vandelar stffened when the servant grasped the hood, and gave a look of wild fear as it was pulled off.

"What is-"

"Filior..." Legolas's voice drew his attention, and Filior turned to look down at Andulin.

But it wasn't Andulin. Filior gasped with shock as his surprised eyes met the tormented ones of his sister. Elorelei was where Andulin should have been, kneeling before them, eyes set against his and their father's... and Legolas's.

**__**

*~*~*~*

A/N: Bwahahaha... BWAHAHAHAHA!! Cliff hanger... MUAHAHA.


	25. Here is Gone

A/N: K, no more evil laughter, your lyrics to ponder are Here is Gone by the Goo Goo Dolls. Cuz, yes, ya get some cool 'Lori in dis chapter. If supportively is not a word, it is now.

****

Chapter Twenty-Four: Here is Gone

Legolas stared. Elorelei stared back. There she was. Flesh and blood and bone, she was there. It seemed unreal for her to be there. How could she have been? The whole court was in a daze and no one could speak. They stared at her, but not at her eyes. Her eyes were strong, challenging, daring one of them to speak first. Vandelar moved, stepping up to Elorelei in three great strides and helping her up.

She bowed to Felair. "The deception was regrettable, my King, but necessary."

King Felair, thunderstruck, said nothing, but began to sob, lowering his face to hide it in his hands. 

Filior stood up, but Minele was quicker. 

She jumped from her seat and stepped in front of them. "Elorelei! YOU! My DAUGHTER. You ungrateful little witch! How dare you return after-"

"Silence, you filth," said Elorelei with such disgust and power than Minele took three steps backward. "The fact that I sprung from your always-controlling, sickening, over-commanding loins is insult enough. I do not want to hear your reprimands, as they are a total waste of time and if I must quiet your useless chatter the hard way, so be it. I'll not listen to your idiocy. Not now, not ever again."

Minele looked terrified and horribly angered, but didn't dare say another word.

Vandelar lay a hand on Elorelei's shoulder. "Peace, Laika, peace."

"What's that you call her? What's that?" Eli sprung into action, signaling for the rest of the court to leave at once. Filior held his father's hand, wanting to calm him, but it did no good.

"Laika, it is her name."

"ELORELEI IS HER NAME!" The King burst out. Lumaeus surveyed his granddaughter with quiet awe, but his mind was working quickly. The pieces would soon be put together, he concluded, and waited for the room to settle itself.

Legolas took a step forward. "Elorelei, you..." he wanted to say something. The others were talking, why couldn't he? She offered him a small smile and he took it and said nothing more.

Eli studied the she-elf, as if he didn't believe it was her. "But, but Andulin? Where is Andulin?"

Elorelei's hard face softened into grief. "He is passed on. In our last battle... he... he was slain." The words choked in her throat and Vandelar took her hand supportively.

"_Our_ last battle?" Legolas had found something to say. "Are you one of his warriors?"

She nodded. "Aye, and his wife." 

An unnatural silence washed over everyone. A quiet free of breathing, talking, motion, and composed only of total stillness and Felair's emotional sobs. Lumaeus knew now that presence of family and other friends was not going to help. He took the warriors, Vandelar, Eli, Minele, Felair and Filior from the room, just catching his granddaughter's glance of thanks.

Once they were gone, the western prince found his voice. "You..." Legolas swallowed. "You were married?"

Elorelei closed her eyes in pain. "I loved him, Legolas, I love him still. Surely you can understand that?"

His eyes narrowed, bitter hatred replacing the relief of his truest friend being alive. "Yes, I understand it." He hissed. "I understand what it's like to have someone leave your life, and know you will not see them for many ages, perhaps forever. I know what it's like to have your hopes crushed under the weight of a lonely heart. Not knowing if they are alive or dead, happy or sad, safe or in mortal peril."

She looked away, opening her eyes only when they were sorely focused on the floor. "I'm sorry you have to know that."

He glared, his eyes opening wide. "So it was nothing to you? You never intended to return to me?"

"I did come back," Elorelei whispered. "I did."

Legolas froze. "No, never."

"You may not have seen me, Legolas, but I did." Minutes of built-up nerve allowed her to look into Legolas's eyes again, but now he was closer. Almost directly in front of her and inching closer every moment. "You changed." She continued, showing no signs of backing away, but this remark stopped Legolas in his tracks. "I saw you, become what you swore to me you never could be. You were just like your father."

"You're lying." 

She shook her head, tears reddening her eyes. 

"You couldn't have. I didn't even see an eagle-"

As if on command, a large bird flew in and landed in front of Elorelei. She petted it's head with a sad smile on her face. "I used the phoenixes in your father's garden. My eagle form has more power than even I knew, and the phoenixes possess the most potent magic. They are helpful creatures. Andulin and I used to-" She stopped, realizing the last thing Legolas wanted to hear about was her dead husband. His obviously controlled breathing and eyes full of accusation and anger would've have scared if she weren't so battle-worn and grief-stricken with the loss of Andulin.

"Phoenixes..." muttered Legolas. There were too many questions, but he didn't know what they were. How could Elorelei, HIS Elorelei, be married? She was this Laika person now, maybe she had forgotten who she was.

"I haven't," She replied, reading his mind. "I know who I am. I just didn't want to be that anymore."

"You can't change who you are."

"No, but I tried."

"Then you are a fool."

"No more than you are."

He cursed her ability to argue so well. Her characteristics hadn't changed, only her name. "So... you came back. Why?"

"To do what Andulin would've if he were alive. The mortal realm is foreign to elves. Maybe there is-"

"You think you can escape your-" He stopped and restated his sentence. "Andulin's death by staining your immortality?"

She took a deep breath, unwilling to let her emotions get the better of her. "No. Andulin agreed that he needed only one more service to the North to clear his name with the King-"

"Why would he need to clear his name?"

Elorelei narrowed her eyes at him for the first time. "That's none of your business."

The wall between them had been building ever since the moment the hood had left Elorelei's face. Legolas knew it would not be broken with them yelling back and forth all night.

"I don't want to fight with you, Elorelei."

"Tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow... we will talk."


	26. Alienated Warriors

****

Chapter Twenty-Five: Alienated Warriors

Legolas knew he would not get to sleep that night. Why he even tried was a mystery to him. Every time he tried, Elorelei's face popped into his mind and he began to thrash and scream "WHY?" in his not-quite-sleep. The heat of the night made him uncomfortable and the presence of everyone else in the palace made him agitated. He sat there, sweating in the dark, contemplating things that nearly bent his mind in two. On the one hand, Elorelei had survived the test, she had overcome and was a warrior in all respects. Why should he expect her to suddenly rush back into arms after years of seperation? On the other hand, she had also shared an unbreakable friendship with him. A friendship he expected would last forever, or at least remain in their memories. She talked to Legolas as if he reminded her of an old friend, not as if he was one. They had something special once, was it still there?

And not to forget, the marriage. Never would he have believed if she hadn't said it herself. Elorelei was married. He knew it wasn't forced on her, she'd proved she wouldn't stand for that.

Reluctantly, he rolled over and tried to sleep.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei rubbed her eyes and sat up. The moon shining through her bedroom window had awoken her, now all hope of getting back to sleep again was abandoned.

If Andulin had lived through their last misson, she wouldn't be going through this right now. She relived every terrifying moment of their battle, wind howling through her ears and bitter cold lashing into her skin. Andulin hung on for dear life as whatever lay beneath the snow pulled him farther and farther away from her outstretched hand. Vandelar had saved her from meeting the same death... but how did they know he was dead? They never found a trace of him, except...She touched the silver dragon's fang that hung around her neck. Similar fangs that were worn as earrings lay in her travelling case. All of them were Andulin's. She twirled her the wedding band on her finger then stood up.

"Evening, Elihar. What are you doing up?"

"Wondering what's gotten into you." The elf emerged from the shadows. "Why did you come back, Elorelei? You know the pain it would cause, yet you still came back."

"I came back for-"

"Legolas?"

"Andulin," She snapped back. "I came back for Andulin... Legolas was..."

Eli snorted, knowing what she would say. "You liar. Legolas could never be an afterthought with you."

"Things change."

"But you don't."

She turned away from him, scowling. Why could Eli always make her feel like everyone knew what she was thinking? After all she had been through, Eli made her feel she had never left. Which was comforting on some level, but now she found it degrading. "So what?" She replied, wincing at her childishness.

This made the other elf smile. "I have missed you, you do know that."

The horrible pull in her made her look at him. Desperately, she wanted to just go back. Back to her kiss with Legolas, to her first flight as an eagle, to her carriage ride with Legolas and Celidia, to running into her father's arms while he was in the middle of an important meeting and having him smile at her, to meeting Eli for the first time, to her first try with a bow and arrow, and back farther still to being held in her grandfather's arms as a baby. Still, she stood there, every bit a warrior as she was a princess, maybe a queen.

"I know," She smiled, steadying herself. "Tell me, Eli. Tell me what's happened while I was away."

He almost pranced up to her. Seeing the forest blue-green of her eyes in the silver moonlight and getting an idea he knew she wouldn't like if he told her, he began to talk. "_Well, just don't tell her."_ He thought to himself. The night moved on, with Eli's voice muttering away in the darkness and thoughts forming in his head.

*~*~*~*

When Legolas woke up, the first shock he received came from the fact that he'd actually fallen asleep. The second came from a servant, rushing in to inform him he was expected to breakfast with the warrior Laika.

"The who?" He asked, blinking away his fatigue.

"The former princess, your highness," replied the servant, bowing more than was necessary. "Shall I tell her you are awake?"

Legolas nodded sleepily, gathering his wits. He pulled himself into some clothes in an unprincely way, causing his assigned maid to cluck her teeth with disapproval.

"Straighten those wrinkles, my Prince. Northerners are difficult to impress, you know." She tsked again and began picking up the room.

Legolas smirked. "Somehow, I don't think I'll need to impress this one." He said, not bothering with the robe and sweeping down the hall.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei was dead on her feet that morning, but somehow, Vandelar got her to move. She muttered obscenties at him all the way to the breakfast hall. There she encountered stares and whispers behind her back. Oddly enough, it reminded her of the last time she danced. She thought if Berloc with a semi-smile and wondered what had happened to him.

"Laika," The sound of stiff, formal introduction woke Elorelei from her sleep. Legolas stood in front of her with his eyes of steel. 

She resisted the strongest urge in her body to call him "Princey" and replied coolly, "Prince Legolas." She curstsied to hide her smile. The "prince" part made him stiffen. He was as sick of hearing "Prince Legolas" as she was of hearing "Laika".

Glasses of juice and a tray of warm, freshly baked breads were brought to start, but Legolas hardly touched his. Laika ate hers with the same speed and quantity at which she always ate. It never failed to make some of the skinnier ladies-in-waiting stare. Everyone returned politely to their own conversations, but their leaf-shaped ears were pricked and waiting. Elroelei sneered at it, but there was nothing she could do.

"Well, Prince Legolas, you requested this breakfast to talk to me. You haven't said anything."

He wrinkled his nose uncomfortably, knowing everyone was listening. He leaned accross the table. "I wish you wouldn't call me that. I was not named Prince."

"And I was not named 'Laika'. Not to you, anyway. So there you are."

He smiled. "Fine then, Elorelei." He settled back into his chair and took a bite of the pastries before him. "Why did you marry?" Legolas asked finally. That was the one question that ate at him the most.

She chewed thoughtfully for a few moments before answering, "Because he asked me."

Legolas twitched in aggravation. "Would you have married me, if I asked you?"

"Yes, of course I would've." The conversation around them came to a stand still again. There was not even chinking of silverware. Elorelei looked evilly at all of them. "That, however, is a matter to be discussed in private or not at all." She grinned, then took a bite of the thin, sliced meat in front of her. "Anything else?"

"How did Andulin die?"

Elorelei's face visibly dropped. "We were in Norsadil's forests, there was a blizzard outside our cave. Andulin went out because he thought he heard a cry and there was someithng under the snow." She said with nearly no emotion. "It pulled him under and we did not find his body. Only a few stray belongings."

"Those silver dragon fang earrings you're wearing?" Several people turned to look. Usually, males who wore earrings were ruffians. She-elves who wore dragon fangs were known to be 'not proper' ladies.

Elorelei said nothing. "Yes."

The Prince shifted subjects to many other things, but the question about Andulin had turned off her spirit. She answered each one truthfully and without a side comment. Breakfast ended and she muttered her goodbye before swooshing away, her long cloak flowing powerfully behind her. Legolas became sorry he'd said anything at all.

A/N: A thousand apologies, o patient ones. Here lies the next chapter, yupperz. Just to let you know, no horses in real life are truly white down to every last hair. They're just light gray, at least, that's as far as I know. However, in my little play land, they are really white. So there you have it.


	27. Witches and Darkness

****

Chapter Twenty-Six: Of Witches and Darkness

Elorelei walked outside, pushing down the tears that came too often. Her feet led her into the forest where three horses, all of them white with black manes and tails, waited, a mare and two steeds. The steeds, Ilexim and Rydar, were Iledian's colts. The older mare was Iledian.

"Hey, old girl. How're your boys, eh?" Elorelei smiled, scratching Iledian affectionately behind the ears. One of the steeds trotted up to her, seeking attention, too. "Hey, Rydar, you big baby." Rydar, who she had ridden in on, was the faster of the twin steeds, but not by much. As for Ilexim, he stood alone, looking at Elorelei sadly. Andulin had been his trainer and rider. He loved Elorelei, but he missed the one he called master.

He drank a little water then closed his eyes, kneeling in the grass. Elorelei let him grieve, she needed to grieve as well. Iledian whinnied at her colt, but he gave no reply. Rydar snorted, shaking his head, then tried to nudge his brother to his feet.

"Leave off, Rydar. He'll be fine in a little while." Elorelei whistled for the horse to come back to her and he did.

"What's wrong with that one?" Legolas's voice made her jump, but Ilexim turned to look at the elf. 

The familiar scent Legolas had made Iledian prance for a moment, trying to recall the smell as friend or foe. Once she settled on friend, she trotted over and sniffed Legolas closer, Rydar in tow. Ilexim watched from a distance, ears facing their direction.

"Ilexim was Andulin's horse. He's taken his death very hard," Elorelei explained, wishing she could do something about it. Just as she did, Ilexim stood up and Legolas saw he was as magnificent as his brother was. His coat was a glossy, silver-white, and he matches Rydar in every speckle of gray on his coat. His only discerning trait was one blue eye, and one brown eye. Rydar had both brown eyes, like his mother. Ilexim was a little more muscular than Rydar, and coincidentally, more of a fighter. However, his demeanor was much more uncertain and listless then his two family members now. Legolas kept at a distance, waiting for the horse to approach him.

Elorelei frowned. She had been going easy on him since... Maybe it was time. "Ilexim, come here." The horse looked at her in surprise. He hadn't heard a command from her since his master died. He debated on whether or not to follow it, but his mother whinnied again, so he did as asked.

Legolas reached out and stroked Ilexim's muzzle, but there was no reaction. Ilexim stared curiously at Legolas, blinking his large, odd-colored eyes. This person didn't look, smell, or act like his master. Good, no painful reminders. He nudged Legolas then tossed his head.

Elorelei put some oats in Legolas's hand, and he fed the horse. Rydar stood back, looking pleased to see his brother taking interest in things again.

After groping aimlessly around his mind for a subject, Legolas spoke. "Are you… are you ready for the Conversion?" True, they weren't suppose to talk about it, but it was the only thing he could think of that put solid ground between them.

"I'll have to be." Elorelei shrugged, slapping Ilexim's haunch and sending him off into a small run. "But I don't know what my transformation power do when combined with the spell."

"Probably nothing. The Light didn't affect it."

"No…" She agreed, but she sounded doubtful. "Legolas, I need your help."

He snapped to attention. "What? What is it?"

She paused, sinking into the more serious depths of her personality. "I need to… No, I don't need to. I WANT to call the woman that gave me this." She held out the silver chain and eagle pendant. It showed no signs of wear, but he could be sure it had been worn.

He didn't want to ask why; it was none of his business. "What do you need me for?"

Elorelei winced, visibly. Inside, she felt a varied array of mixed feelings. "For the magic, I'll need the presence of someone whom I would trust with my life and something they gave me out of love."

Legolas, despite all his attempts at fighting it, blushed. "What did I ever give you?"

She pulled something out of her cloak, smiling at his boyish reaction. "This."

He nodded, smiling back. "My ring." A thought passed through his hand and he barely grabbed hold of it. "Oh!"

"Oh what?"

He suddenly looked frantic. "I must write home, I need to return the bow you told me to look after."

Elorelei brightened at its mentioning. "Yes, how did you like it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I locked it away in our maximum security vaults."

"You mean you never unwrapped it from the cloth?"

"You never gave me permission to."

Elorelei laughed. Rich, calming laughter that suited her extremely well. "Legolas, sometimes I fear you are to loyal for your own good. Yes, please send home for it as soon as you can."

**__**

*~*~*~*

The night that Elorelei suggested they try the call was dark, nearly pitch black. Right away, Legolas had his misgivings.

"Perhaps another night, one that's not so dark. How will you see?"

"_Lumos._" Elorelei mumbled, resulting in a large ball of light hovering over their heads as they trekked through the forest.

Legolas smirked, trying not to show his appreciation of her magic. "Thanks, _Princess._" The nickname slipped out as easily as if he'd never stopped saying it. He didn't try to correct himself.

Neither did she. "Anytime, Princey. Here, this will do nicely." The place she'd stopped wasn't so much a clearing as it was a small circle of trees. He was grateful they'd chosen to leave the horses, because the two elves could barely fit in themselves. Elorelei seated herself cross-legged on the ground, and Legolas mimicked her. He waited silently for her instruction while she fished the ingredients out of her pocket. Privately, he wanted to tell her how young this made him feel and how happy time alone with her made him. Still, somehow, he knew she wouldn't hear any of it. 

She removed her cloak to a sleeveless black shirt. She looked like a floating head and arms in the darkness. She put Legolas's ring on her right hand and took his hands in her own. 

Legolas watched her mutter the incantation, concentrating on it as best he could. He felt lost in the ancient chant, but at least he stayed where he was. Even though they gripped hands tightly, Elorelei slipped into another world entirely.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"Laika!! RUN! Please!" Andulin called through the snowstorm. He clawed at the snowdrifts, but he must have known it was hopeless. "Please, get out of here!!"

Elorelei shoved away the hands of warriors trying to hold her back. "NO!!" She lunged forward, trying desperately to reach his hand.

Andulin felt a new fear wash over him. He would not let his wife die trying to save him. "STOP!! Vandelar, stop her!!"

Elorelei lashed out at Vandelar, but he grabbed her firmly around the waist. She thrashed and tears she was completely unaware of ran down her face. "NO! Let me go!! ANDULIN!!" She screamed, her voice swirled with the wind and warbled away. Somehow, she broke free again, and lunged. She almost fell into the drift with him, bringing them face to face. He was up to his chest in the snow now, and whatever was pulling him wouldn't let go. She grabbed and pulled but it just wouldn't let go. Its unlimited strength would take her husband from her and there was nothing she could do about it.

Andulin held her face with his hands, smiling with defeat. He pulled up just enough to brush her cheek, coated with frozen tears, with his lips. "Go to your prince, my lady." 

Elorelei shook her head. She couldn't go back to Legolas yet. That would mean accepting Andulin has left her. "No, please, not yet, Andulin." Her voice begged him.

"Laika… Elorelei… Go to him. Be with someone you love, instead of alone."

"I love _you_." She insisted, pulling hopelessly once more before giving up.

He was up to his neck now. "I love you, too, Elorelei." She smiled through her sobs. In her heart, she could be sure now. Andulin loved her, not who she tried to be. She pushed herself back up, feeling Vandelar seize her ankles. But she held Andulin's hands until his fingers slipped from hers and he disappeared entirely into the snow…

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei lay on the ground, staring upward into the blackness. She didn't know where she was or why she was forced to relive the death of her husband. Sobs came and went, racking her body in waves of despair.

"Don't cry, my lady."

She turned her head, her ears unwilling to believe what she'd just heard. "Andulin?" The figure in the dark nodded. "Andulin!" She stumbled to her feet and ran to him. _Please, don't be another trick._ She pleaded.

Andulin smiled sadly as he wrapped his arms around her. "Yes, I'm here."

She stood there with him, crying tears of joy until she had none left. She could hold him in her arms, and smell his scent of wilderness around her, and see his beautiful royal blue eyes looking at her with love, acceptance, and grace. How many times had she asked the Valar to take away everything she had just for one more night to be with him? To feel him. The men and herself wrote songs to honor him, but she couldn't live with the memory of a song. "But… where is here? And how are you alive?"

He looked at her in a way that made her heart drop to her feet. "I barely have the heart to tell you, but I am dead."

She looked up at him like a child who simply didn't understand the concept of death. "What?"

"My soul has passed on into the next world, Elorelei, and I am not yet reincarnated. I'm not sure I will be. I exist only in two places."

Elorelei looked down. "Which are?"

"Your memory." He looked around into the darkness.

"So… that's where we are? That's why I had to watch you die all over again?" She asked, feeling her desperate happiness melt away. Andulin nodded. Her eyes glimmered. He had said two places, hadn't he? "Where's the other place?"

He gave her a kindly look and put one hand over her heart. "Here."

Elorelei smiled at him and threw her arms around him again. "I did love you, you know."

He gave her a chuckle. "Yes, but never the way you love your prince."

That startled her. "What?"

"No time. You must move on. She heard your call and is waiting."

"How do I get-" But Andulin rippled into thin air and Elorelei stood in a meadow. No trees were to be seen, no flowers, just a grassy plain. "There?"

"You should not be here, child," said a familiar voice. "You have great things to accomplish." It was the old woman, only not so old now. There was less gray in her hair, and she stood erect, with no bend in her back.

"I needed to speak with you," Elorelei replied seriously.

The woman sat in the grass. "Allright then. Speak. And don't ask questions you don't want answers to."

Elorelei stared at the odd woman. She had just been about to ask who she was, but voted against it. "Why did you give me this necklace?"

The woman shrugged. "You needed it and I needed to get rid of it. Sorry if that answer is too simple for you, but I did warn you." She said, voicing Elorelei's thoughts. 

"Very well. But about my Conversion-"

"Yes, your eagle form will have an effect. No, I'm not sure what it is. Now, if you're ready, I have questions for you."

Elorelei was stunned by the directness of this woman, but recovered herself before it became noticeable. "Okay, I'm ready." She sat herself in front of the old woman, putting on a shield of blank expression.

"Good. The Prince, why will you not admit your feelings for him?"

The Princess almost lost her composure just as soon as she gained it. "Leoglas is just a friend, nothing else. And even if he weren't, I don't think that's any of your business."

"I believe it is, my dear. Remember, you called me, I didn't have to answer. And I can keep you here as long as I wish. Then you'll get nothing accomplished."

Elorelei scoffed. "What have I to accomplish?"

"I'm asking the questions here, dearest." She was so frank, so firm, so forthright, but hiding what she wanted to hide effectively. The only person Elorelei knew that was remotely like her was herself. "You, young one, will eventually hold the fate of two worlds in your hands, so I suggest you get used to the idea of greatness. But if you don't accept what's in your heart, you will fail your set tasks."

Elorelei stared. She simply couldn't believe what this woman was telling her. It bounced around her leaf-shaped ears, but never quite reached her brain. "Valar bless me, I think I'm finally in over my head."

"Oh, no."

The woman's tone was more irritated than afraid, so Elorelei didn't take it seriously. "What now?"

"That Prince boy. I suppose you must be on your way."

Again, Elorelei was whirled away so quickly, she didn't have time for goodbye.


	28. All in the Game

A/N: Lyrics to ponder time, YEAH! Really Love to See You Tonight- England Dan, and I Could Fall in Love- Selena. Yes, this next chapter is mushy. I HAD to incorporate romance at SOME point people! Think of it as an amusement park ride. Keep you hands and arms on the keyboard and mouse at all times. Please watch out for long, confusing words, as they tend to jump up on you a lot in this chapter (I was feeling intelligent). Thank you and enjoy the ride.

****

Chapter Twenty-Seven: All in the Game

"Elorelei, please wake up. You're starting to worry me."

Elorelei creaked her eyes open at the sound of Legolas's voice. His steel-blue eyes, filled with relief, welcomed her, making her smile more happily than she intended.

The way she smiled at him made his heart jump. "There. Come on, we need to get you back to the palace."

Elorelei nodded in agreement, but she was so tired. Her spirit had been sucked to another dimension, her body had been weakened considerably without it. "I… I can't… I'm too tired… too weak." She saw a gleam of mischief cross Legolas's face. "Don't you think it."

"Why bother thinking it when I can do it?" He smiled, scooping her up in his arms. "Come on, you do want to sleep in a bed, don't you?"

Elorelei had to admit the idea was extremely tempting. "Okay, but if anyone sees us, I'll kill you."

"Wow, that's nice of you."

She laughed but got stopped midway by a yawn. She rested her eyes for what she thought was a few minutes, but when she opened them Legolas was laying her down on a bed.

"I can't believe you slept the whole way. I almost dropped you."

"There's a comforting thought." She whispered, feeling sleep's grip tighten on her. She didn't want to sleep, and Legolas's provided distraction.

"Where did you go during that spell? I felt like I lost you." He touched her skin, which was uncharacteristically cold.

She leaned against him without meaning to as her eyelids got heavier and heavier. "A lot of places… I saw things… Things I never wanted to see again." Slowly, Legolas wrapped an arm around her. It was meant as a comforting gesture, but it brought not-so-comforting feelings to her stomach. He didn't say anything else, but wrapped her hair around her so she could be warm. She didn't bother to tell him she was quite warm enough. Elorelei shut her eyes, ready to sleep now. She didn't tell Legolas to go, though she knew she should've. When she said she was weak, she meant it. Besides, since Andulin's death, she hated spending her nights with only tears to keep her company. 

__

Be with someone you love, instead of alone…

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei woke up the next morning to find Legolas had already gone out. "_He's always loved mornings._" She thought, slipping out of bed to change. A letter was on her desk, and she recognized Legolas's handwriting.

Didn't want to wake you. The bow is in your vault again, I gave it to your grandfather and he put it there. You have to see your father this morning for Conversion instruction. Meet me outside afterwards.

Legolas

She threw the letter into a bag and changed quickly, grabbing some rolls for her breakfast then walking steadily into the throne room. King Felair had regained his self-control, but Lumaeus had never lost his. When Elorelei walked in, he was calm and collected, hugging her and greeting her like his grandchild. It was Lumaeus who did most of the instruction. Felair just tried to hold still.

"The mortality given you with form a shell around you," stated Lumaeus, watching his son out of the corner of his eye. "When you are ready to be called back, mutter the incantation and the spell will break. Your human form will shatter, leaving only you. Then make the journal back through Portalis Somnium."

Elorelei listened, appearing very calm and collected, but wishing her father would say something, anything, to reassure her that he was okay. 

"I believe that's it. Preparation will take a few months, but you will be given two years for your personal affairs."

Elorelei started. "Two years, my Lord? What shall I-"

"Stop all that 'my Lord' nonsense. I'm still your grandfather, child." Lumaeus winked.

Elorelei fought her smile. "Yes, Grandfather. But what do I have to sort out that will take two years?"

Felair spoke with his voice steady as a rock. "The years will pass like seconds, even you know this, Elore-… Laika."

"It's Elorelei to family, Father." Elorelei smiled to see her father ease a little. She returned her attention to Lumaeus, who was looking at his son with something like pride. "And if all my affairs are in order?"

He turned and gave her sly smile. "Then take the time to relax. Meditate, explore your mind," She was sure his eyes sparkled. "And your _heart_." He was not displeased to see the look of shock in her eyes. "Is there anything else, Felair?"

He nodded. "Elihar Silvermoon will accompany you in animal form. Some bat-like creature-"

"A flying fox, they call it." Lumaeus interrupted.

"If there is an emergency, he will be able to contact us right away."

Elorelei felt a spasm of relief. She didn't know why, but she seemed to be on the knife's edge of emergency with every passing moment.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"PULL!" TWANG! THUNK! Legolas smirked at the fallen target in front of him. He couldn't remember the last time he missed.

He readied another arrow. "PULL!!"

"BRICK!!"

"What?" TWANG! A clear miss. Legolas grimaced in frustration. "Excuse me, what do you think you're-!"

"Oh, come off it, even I miss once in a while." Elorelei grinned.

Legolas smiled and put down his arrow, dismissing the target practitioner. "What was that you yelled? Brick?"

"It's supposed to mean your arrow will fall like a brick. It didn't quite do that, but the other effect was sufficient," She said, taking up her own bow. "What did you want me out here for?"

"I thought you'd like to take a walk." Just the way he said it made her suspicious. It sounded like the truth, but with an ulterior motive.

"… What did you really want me out here for?"

He sighed. _How does she do that?_ "Minele is speaking with your father about you. Vandelar thought it best that you were out of the palace at that time."

She gave him a look that set his blood running cold. He racked his mind for some way to appease her. 

"So how about that walk?" His face lit up with a smile that never failed to endear him to her. Sure enough, after only a few seconds, she acquiesced. (A/N: *running from long words* They overpowered me!! Save yourselves!! No hippopontiac-… hippomontriarch… hippophinkltwak… NO PERSON AFEARED OF LONG WORDS IS SAFE!! RUUUUUN!!… Sorry, I just had to do that.)

**__**

*~*~*~*

The walk was short and uneventful. It ended in the meadows, and they sat in the grass under a kind sun in the shade of a kinder tree.

"It's good to be home, I was gone a long time." Elorelei looked around and remembered riding Iledian over the grassy field just before she met Legolas in the forest... How had he gotten there so quickly anyway? It was a three day ride on horse back from the West, at least. She decided now was not the best time to ask. Legolas, despite himself, did not use such decisive powers.

"Elorelei..." How could he put this? "Do you think... you could tell me- I mean if you want to, that is... about..."

"Andulin?" She finished. The pain was still close to her, but this was Legolas. She still had yet to make up for the years of closing herself to him. "If you feel like hearing it, I suppose I could."

He rested a hand on her arm, but didn't know the shiver that traveled through her body the moment he did. "I'd like to, very much." The pause that followed felt unsure, but Elorelei had already chosen. The touch on the arm had melted away her resolve. Had she really been alone so long that even Legolas invoked such emotions in her? Or had he done that on his own? She inhaled deeply to clear her thoughts.

"When I met him, Andulin was... intriguing. He was powerful, but quiet about it. His men, Vandelar and the others, they followed him like a king." Legolas was listening still, having many questions, but not wanting to interrupt. She went into a world of her own, laughing at the images in her head. "They would've hacked themselves in half with a battle axe if he told them to. But they were peasants, never trained in the deadly arts, but they had the skill for it. He wanted me to teach them, to train his army. I don't even know how he got me to do it." She looked down, studying her hands to keep from looking Legolas in the eye. "Well, actually, I do know. He had these eyes. They were so unnaturally blue, I've never seen anything like it. It's as if he'd taken two tiny pieces of the most brilliant, royal blue, opalescent gems and put his emotions into it." The tenderness and longing with which she spoke the words brought a lump to each of their throats. "And his hair, it was so black..."

"Like yours?" Legolas blurted, before wincing at his own impatience. The picture she'd so carefully been painting got a smudge on it. She just as easily painted over it.

"No, not at all like mine. You can tell my hair used to be brown once, but his... It was black down to it's very core. The only thing like it was being in a thick forest at midnight. Where no stars or moonlight penetrated. Thick black that light couldn't enter, but could shine off of like a surface..." It surprised her how much she knew about his appearence. She covered it up some. "It ran down to his shoulders, I think." She knew it ran exactly one inch past his shoulders, framing the definite lines of his face and jaw with an attractive elegance. "But for all his beauty, I wouldn't have married him if-" She stopped, wondering if this was too much for Legolas, but he looked at her with a desperate want to know what drew her to elf so that she married him. "He treated me as if... I were fragile."

Legolas smiled in a teasing way. Elorelei was a lot of things but fragile wasn't one.

This loosened her a little as she went on. "I know, I know, but that's how he was. On the battlefield, of course, he had to let me fight, but he was always by my side... or I was always by his. We spent every day together and each day he made his feelings for me more and more apparent. He never hid his feelings. And the way he was around me, I've never been treated like... like I was something special. There were times when he just couldn't believe he had the right to touch me." She looked to Legolas for an understanding. "I've never been loved like that. I didn't know it was possible to love like that. And when he asked me, I knew I felt the same way... So I said yes." She finally gathered up her breath, staring into the light, steelish blue that was nothing like the dark blue of her former love's eyes.

The look of shock and something like receding hope in his eyes made her heart tighten as if someone had suddenly gripped it and wrung it like a piece of cloth. He was disappointed for some reason; she just hoped it wasn't the reason she suspected.

Legolas left Elorelei alone for a while after the conversation was over. Her grief was no longer an open wound, but an ugly scar tht hadn't fully healed. He'd give it time, elves healed quickly. Then he could... He could what?

Seconds passed while Legolas ran over in his head what'd just been thinking. He mentally kicked himself. Elorelei could never feel for him that way! _Listen to her describe Andulin! She'd never talk about you like that! _It made his heart contract, but he immediately denied the feeling. He continued on his way, thinking how foolish he was being. When several other signals told him otherwise.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Eli watched Legolas return from the meadow... alone. He wasn't one to play matchmaker, but this was just too easy to pass up. Though she may never admit it, Andulin had just taken the place Legolas would've if Elorelei hadn't left. She may have forgotten it, but Legolas did kiss her before she left, and she DID make the inclination that it was possible for her to love him. Eli crinkled his nose, thoughtfully. If he could do this without playing on their emotions and taking any roundabout ways... He would help, he decided, but not too much.

"LEGOLAS!"

The other elf snapped his head to look at Eli's approaching figure. "Hello, Eli." He smiled, but had to put some force into it.

The brown-haired elf smiled back, without any force at all. "Where's Elorelei?"

"Oh," He said, looking out to where he'd left her. "Out in the meadows wih the horses."

Eli looked exultant. "Good, I need to ask you something."

Automatically, Legolas assumed a more defensive stance. "Yes?" He asked warily.

"Are you falling in love with Elorelei?"

The question was so direct and open, Legolas racked his brain for a way around it. "Why? Are you thinking of-"

"No, I'm not, just answer the question."

He thought of his counter attack. Another question. "What makes you say-"

"The fact that every spare moment you have, you seem to be spending it with her. Now answer."

Legolas blinked. Tiptoeing around such a situation was obviously not an option. "Does it help if I say I'm trying not to?"

"It helps me, but I doubt that it'll do you much good."

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei hummed a quiet song she made up in her head as she brushed through Ilexim's glossy coat. He'd been rolling around in the dirt and grass, which was a sign that he was active again.

"My baby boy's getting better." She smiled. She remembered the exact moment Ilexim came into the world, seconds before Rydar. Andulin had helped with birthing the foals, and even helped with doctoring Iledian when they weren't so sure she would live through her labor. He'd reminded her so much of Legolas during that time, forgetting all his inhibitions when it came to helping others. It was at those times when she missed the fair-haired elf the most. She wished he wouldn't ask her about Andulin so much, yet at the same time, she was glad. There were many things she needed to get out of her. And unfortunately, everyone else had the good sense not to ask about them.

The next few weeks were unusually tense. Elorelei got the feeling that Legolas was holding something back. In a way, it calmed her. When Legolas was open with her and totally trusting, it frightened her in a deep way. He came as close as he dared, and sometimes she slipped and came closer to him, before shoving him away. With Vandelar and the men around, they were a constant reminder that she was not ready to fall in love again. Even when it seemed so easy to just let herself be taken in, she decided to keep her emotions to herself. However, it was, at times, most difficult.

Elorelei baarely remembered that Legolas was walking beside her she was so tired. The strenuous exercises her grandfather insisted she do had finally taken their toll.

"Elorelei?" Legolas gave her a look of concern when she stopped to lean on the wall. "Are you going to be all right?"

She nodded, but faintly. "If you tried some of this stuff they put me through for a few weeks, you'd be tired, too." She joked. 

He smiled at her to cover his worry. "Why don't you stay in my room? It's right here. There are two beds, one of the benefits of a royalty suite."

The offer was extremely tempting, but should she? Her feet were failing beneath her. She took the chance, knowing she might regret it in the morning. "Thanks," She replied, dropping onto the bed. "I appreciate it."

"I know you do," Legolas said softly, moving some of his things out of the way to make room for her. She closed her eyes, barely feeling legolas shift her so she could sleep beneath a warmer blanket.

"Why are you doing this for me?" She mumbled, halfway to sleep.

The prince smiled at her in his endearing way. It was almost too easy to fall in love with those eyes. "Because I want to."

Elorelei sat straight up, remembering Andulin saying the exact same words when she asked him why he continued to put up with her. _Because, my warrior, my lady, my love, I want to._

"I need to go," She stammered, her voice cracking. "My room's not so far." She stood up, but was so sleepy, her brain didn't quite get it and she nearly fell again.

Calmly, Legolas looked down, his smile fading away. Eli had told him this would happen. And the only adive he gave him was to confront the situation. That's all he could do. "Stop this, Elorelei." He told her quietly, but firmly. For a moment, his royal blood and his regal voice made her freeze... but she couldn't for long. Still, Legolas held her attention. "Tell me why you keep doing this."

She didn't answer, holding her silence as if it were all she had.

"You make me believe, even with the faintest of hints, that you love me. Then you turn around and say goodbye as if it never happened. You let me close to you, then you tear away." It was plain he was angry. He felt hurt and spurned week after week, and enough was enough.

"Legolas, I can't-"

He snapped his head up. "Then is that why you break away? You only pretend you could love me when you know it's hopeless? Is that why?!"

Elorelei jumped back with just as much anger. "No, it's because I'm scared of the fact that I am _falling in love_ with you, no matter what I tell myself or what I do about it!!" Legolas jerked backward at her retaliation. Was she shouting back at him?! What right did she have to yell at-...

"... ...What?" He leaned in, inching closer to her. She couldn't have said... But she did.

A/N: Sorry if I rushed that, I can fix it when I re-edit. Elorelei's got other stuff to do and we can't wait around for her to get her stubborn ass together. 


	29. Bold and Daring

A/N: Lyrics to ponder, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by Sting and da Po-Po!! I mean, Police... yeah, that's what I meant… Stupid Aunt Madea's Family Reunion…

****

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bold and Daring  


  
  
"Prince Legolas?"  
  
He actually winced. Every voice that wasn't Elorelei's burned against his ears. It was Filior, he looked antsy.  
  
"Is Elorelei here?"  
  
_Don't say her name, please._ Legolas wanted to say. Instead he replied, "No, she should be on the practice field." That's where she'd been ever since that morning, he began to think she'd slept out there. She'd walked out on him and he couldn't help but think he'd lost her. _I shouldn't have yelled, now she'll never come back._ Which was partially true. He shouldn't have yelled...  
  
**_*~*~*~*  
  
_**"Elorelei?"  
  
"Yes, Filior?" THWACK! The way he paused let her know he was about to bring up something touchy.  
  
"Did you fight with Legolas?"  
  
She said nothing, but continued her practicing in a cold, emotionless way. "That's no business of yours, Filior."  
  
The prince lowered his head.  
  
"But it is business of mine," said a stern, new voice. Elorelei lowered her bow and turned around, slowly. Jayik gave her a patronizing glare, then a soft smile. "I swear, you two would fight about the weather if it suited the situation."  
  
She would've ran to him if it weren't for Filior. Jayik had stayed handsome and strong, but he had never had that almost effeminate beauty, giving him a unique look.  
  
"Nice to see you again, Jay," She nodded to acknowledge him and beckoned him forward. It unnerved her the way her brother hung in the shadows and Jayik knew it.  
  
"Prince Filior, would it please you to leave us for a moment or two?" He spoke respectfully to the prince here, in case some guard was nearby. The idea of talking to the young boy like he was used to at the Castle was out of the question.  
  
"Of course." The Prince obeyed, though it wasn't really a command.  
  
Elorelei watched him go, sorry that she'd been so over-powering with him. She'd make it up to him later, right now, Jayik was her problem. "How'd you get away from the Castle?"  
  
"As hard as we work? They give some vacations, you know."  
  
She shook her head in understanding, but before she could stay on that topic, Jayik interrupted.  
  
"So what's this about fighting with Legolas? What've you done now?" Joke though it was, it stung.  
  
She pulled her arrows out of the target she'd been working on. "Nothing, Jayik. Don't bother this time, this is not something you can fix by a good slap."  
  
"Still bitter about that?"  
  
"I'm not bitter!" She yelled, feeling her temperature rise.  
  
"I noticed," He mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Don't get cocky just because you taught me a little humility."  
  
He laughed. "Oh, I think any person who taught you that has a right to a little cockiness."  
  
She glared at him, in a a stiff, cold way that sent chills sliding up his spine. Jayik was immediately silenced. She was not a child anymore and if he dared to treat her as such, without her consent, he could only imagine what she would do. Whatever was going on was not a game. "If my present situation with Legolas concerned you at all, I'm sure you would've known already." Scorn coated her voice and the calm, serious decorum she'd learned from her life as a Northerner came into effect.  
  
_How will she ever chisel her heart out of all that ice that surrounds it?_ "Yes, Elorelei, but-"  
  
"No buts, Jayik. Now, if you have nothing else to say-"  
  
"Actually, I do," He interrupted.  
  
She looked at him icily, deciding. "Go on," said Elorelei, after a pause.  
  
"There is a ball tonight that you are, needless to say, REQUIRED to attend. All I ask is that you wear this." He reached into his bag that he had sat in the grass and pulled out a brown parcel.  
  
Elorelei looked skeptically at him. "Why?"  
  
"A favor for an old friend."  
  
**_*~*~*~*  
  
_**"Is he mad?!" Elorelei screamed. She'd opened the package only to find her old crown, still in mint condition. Light and beautiful, but also well-made. Surrounded by semi-precious jewels, a diamonds sat in the very center of a curving silver pattern. It was the epitome of beauty when it rested on her head, but she hadn't worn it for years. "I'm no longer a princess, Eli, only Princesses wear the crown!"  
  
Eli sighed, he knew she would overreact. "Your father said it was quite-"  
  
"My father? My father has been arguing with Minele for days!!"  
  
"Elorelei-"  
  
"You're both mad!"  
  
"Stop that. You slip in and out of your episodes of power and this is one of your out times. Pull yourself together, for a moment, please."  
  
"Mad," Elorelei insisted once more, then settled down. She knew she could command power and respect if she needed to, but this was Eli. Therefore, she didn't need to. "Eli, how important is this ball tonight?"  
  
"Extremely. For your image, for your father's image, for every elf that lives in our Valley, and for those that live over the East Mountains and beyond the Western Sea. You have got to show them someone impressive but beautiful, you have less than an hour to get ready, and you're still in your dirty hunting tunic. Your father is expecting to see you in the diamonds. I suggest you think of SOMETHING." He said, quickly and vehemently to stress his point.  
  
She shuddered momentarily and Andulin's face flashed before her eyes. She wondered why for a moment, then, of course, she knew. "Okay... here's what I'll do..." She took a deep breath to steady herself.  
  
**_*~*~*~*  
  
_**Vandelar twirled a finger around a strand of his hair, nervously. This was a big night for him, too, and he was dressed up in a tunic of a fine pale blue that matched his eyes. It was not what he wore that bothered him, it was running over and over again in his mind what would happen when Elorelei was forced to wear a dress that gave him nightmares. There was one occasion, but he could have sworn she threw that dress out. She had to have thrown it out.  
  
Legolas swallowed, getting impatient. Chances that Elorelei would even acknowledge his presence were very little. That didn't mean he should care for her any less. Filior sat nearby, his eyes trained on the entrance door. His shockingly white hair was pulled back in a ponytail and his robes were swept around him like clouds around the moon at night. His forefinger was curved and brushing his bottom lip while the rest of his hand held his chin. He was in thoughts so deep, nothing could've possibly stirred him except for Elorelei's arrival. So, she arrived.  
  
Elorelei tuned out the collective gasp she heard when she entered. It was the same thing she heard on the first day she wore this dress. Her wedding day.   
  
It was a pearl-colored gown, contrasting so sharply with her dark hair, the effect was dramatic. It was her favorite kind, silk, with a decorated corset-looking overpiece. Thin flakes of pearls and tiny ivory beads littered over it, forming on intracate pattern. Tiny, frail-looking seashells formed lines across the open back. On the front, a single diamond sat, shining in adversity. Instead of her crown, a beautiful ring of pale orange, peach colored seashells sat daintly on her head. She'd let her hair down, all of it. Eli had several maids come in and weave strings of tiny white opal beads into her braids. She looked like a vision, and Legolas could hardly bear it.  
  
Not daring to look up, she approached her father and knelt, careful to mind her dress.  
  
"I must, regretfully, return the King's kind gift," She said, signalling Fenra to bring it to her. He did it almost before she told him to. "I believe it is only proper for royalty to wear the crown."  
  
Minele snorted softly in an almost approving way, but no one paid her any attention. The death glare Elorelei shot her had shut her up. Felair swallowed, took the crown from his daughters hands, then swallowed again. "You need not such a thing, my daughter, for you are beauty itself." She smiled as he rose out of his chair to kiss her forehead.   
  
The introduction went by in a blur. All Elorelei could remember was gasps and gaping and Jayik not being there. Felair clapped and the music began.  
  
Elorelei tried to sneak off to the side and was safe there, but only for a moment. "Impossible it is, to be a wallflower in such a dress!" Lumaeus laughed, offering a hand to his granddaughter as a merrier tune struck up. Her grandfather always knew that she liked the folk dances better than royal ones. Legolas watched with a turning stomach while she moved, smiling at her grandfather, dancing and twirling as if she were perfectly happy. She missed a few steps, but was so graceful and comfortable in what she wore, no one seemed to mind. He felt sick, his insides twisted, rebelling against the sick feeling of loss he felt. After she sat down, Elorelei talked animatedly with Filior and took no notice, he could not make out their words.  
  
"Go and speak to him," Her brother insisted. "Please, Lori, for me if not for him."  
  
"Filior..." She sighed, taking another sip of the fermented brew brought to her. "You promised."  
  
"I did nothing. You sent me away before I could," He saw she was intent on her drink and not listening. "Elorelei please, he loves you."  
  
"So did Andulin, and look what it got him." She said, sitting the drink down. "I died the day he left this world, Filly. I do not want to die again."   
  
"Legolas is NOT Andulin, Sister. Talk to him and see." Knowing he could do no more, Filior got up to dance with a pretty strawberry-blonde across the room, leaving his sister to do as she would.  
  
Elorelei steadied herself before walking slowly over to the person she'd been avoiding all night. He tried to be calm, but anyone could see the tension at lay behind his eyes as he reach fer her hand to kiss it. Her stomach jolted when his lips brushed her skin. "_Vanesse, lyaa iirima na Elorelei_." He whispered, more to himself than to her.  
  
She smiled and fought at tears. Why was he so sweet and kind to her? Why was she so powerful and beautiful? That had been the problem all along. Neither felt that they deserved the other. Eli sat idly in his chair, willing Legolas to get enough courage to ask Elorelei for a dance.  
  
Maybe it was this, or maybe Legolas felt he no longer had anything to lose if she rejected him, but suddenly, his fear and doubt evaporated into thin air.  
  
He bowed slighlty and smiled, using his ears to recall what this next song was. When he did, it seemed perfect. "Would the lady like to join me in this next dance?"  
  
She gave her usual quiet acceptance but knew he was planning something that was extremely bold.  
  
The song was just beginning to open, but Legolas knew something very important about it that Elorelei did not. "Remember this one?" He asked, referring to the song.  
  
She looked startled. "Eh... um... No, actually, I don't..." Her eyes wanted to flit around to see what everyone else was doing, but there were only so many elves on the floor. It struck her odd, everyone had been dancing all night.  
  
Eli sat by himself, grinning idiotically. _Casual small talk, that always throws her off. Smooth Legolas, real smooth._ He thought to himself, pleased at the elf's use of his wits. Others, however, were not so pleased. Felair looked concerned, Minele looked appalled, Filior looked on the verge of hysteria, and Lumaeus looked most terribly amused.  
  
Legolas smiled with his eyes as he noted their expressions. This was very, very dangerous ground he was treading. If she was never going to forgive him, he would be doubly sure she wouldn't forget him. His heart race increased steadily as the song grew to it's high point.  
  
He noticed as she caught one of the other couple's looking at them in confusion. "What's wrong?"  
  
"You're dancing... differently than the way it's usually done."   
  
Elorelei knew she should stop asking. She knew from tone of voice, from his posture Legolas was going to do something she would not like... or would like too much. Her time with Andulin's men had taught her to read people like that. Should she give into her curiosity?  
  
Why not? "Well, how are you supposed to do it?"  
  
The question brought two very different reactions. One was to stop and laugh before it got too far, the other was to show her. To make her feel what he felt every time he had to look at her. He made up his mind in a split second.  
  
"Like this," He said, pressing an arm to the small of her back and pushing her closer to him. Bad move. To begin with, Elorelei was too stunned to react, but Legolas was reacting. He stopped dancing and looked into the swirling forest of her eyes and got lost. Why did he think he could pull this off? Why? He knew she was the one irresistable force in his life. The one being who's will he would bend to indiscriminately. And he actually thought he could sweep her off her feet. _Well, Legolas, you've come this far. Finish what you started.  
  
_(A/N: Yes, he is bold. But is he DARING? *crunches Doritos* ---Not claiming to own the Doritos company. By the way, I don't know much Quenya, but the basic gist of what Legolas said means "Beauty, your name is Elorelei." How shweet.)


	30. Ruthless Emotion

(A/N: Lyrics to ponder is my favoritist part! This one is It Is You (I Have Loved) by Dana Glover, Goodbye to You by Michelle Branch, A Moment Like This from American Idol, and Why(Are We Still Friends)? by 98 degrees. Oh, yeah, I'm gonna lay it on ya'll REAL thick. It's enough mush to make you sick. It made me sick, and I freakin WROTE it. Now, to tell you about the title of this chapter, if only to bore you. There's a phrase in the WWF... I mean, WWE... grrr... that they use for the big, scary, dinosaur-type man called Brock Lesnar. It's called "Ruthless Aggression." If you've ever seen this guy wrestle, you would know why I used that phrase. He's fucking scary. *censors yell at her to up the rating for that remark* SHUT UP! I'll up the rating when Chapter 30 rolls around! Anhoodileedoo, Brock Lesnar has as much aggression as there is emotion in the chapter. That's all this chapter is. Ruthless emotions, yes sir. But I made it short so you wouldn't have to throw up too much. And tomorrow, I want a chicken caesar salad shakes from McDonalds. Yums.)

****

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ruthless Emotion

Eli watched from his seat on the floor as Legolas had his moment of doubt before he took a blind leap of faith. Filior did not like where he was leaping and Eli had to temporarily restrain him.

"Let me go now and I promise his death will be painless," Filior struggled, but the healer had put something in his drink that rendered the Prince helpless.

"Oh, be quiet and watch the show." Eli was almost cackling.

"How can you let her stay out there? You know she doesn't know who this dance is for. She never went to the dances at the Castle!"

"Always told her she'd regret it, didn't I?"

"Eli..."

**__**

*~*~*~*

Legolas let his heart pound away uncontrollably. Elorelei let her temper loose.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hadn't stopped dancing, but had started muttering under her breath at him.

"Dancing, Lori, what are YOU doing?"

"Wishing I knew a way of killing you that wasn't blatantly obvious I did it."

Legolas wanted to laughed, but held his tongue.

"This doesn't change a thing, Legolas. You're making it worse."

"Am I?" He was surprised at his own audacity.

"Yes, you are."

Legolas gave a look of mock thoughfulness. "Really? Would it be better if I told you what this song is for?" Why was he teasing her?! She was going to kill him!

Elorelei glared, it was a glare of something second cousin to utter hatred. He never thought he'd see her look at him that way. Legolas smiled and bore the pain of it, anyway. He'd never felt this way before, merciless and cruel. Letting everything that was in him come out in some tauntingly unyielding way. She would never love him again now that he'd ruined it, and knowing that made every other pain seem inconsequential and unimportant.

"Is that a yes? I'll tell you then," He said. The song ended and leaned next to her, letting his lips brush the tips of her leaf-shaped ears. "This song is for couples in love... Guess I miscalculated."

A series of things happened then. One, Elorelei shoved him away, but that was to be expected. Two, she stood there, looking at him as if he disgusted her, the most vile grotesque thing she'd ever laid her eyes on. Three, she was at a loss for words as her face grew red and her hands clenched and unclenched as if she longed to wrap them around his throat.

"Of all the! ... Arrogant! Presumptuous! EGOTISTICAL! Foolish assumptions! ... You! ... I should!"

Legolas stood there, unflinching, prepared for the worst of her anger. No curse she could unleash upon him would make him stop hurting, so what was the point? What happened was unexpected. 

Elorelei had felt this feeling before. Anger was not going to win this battle of her emotions, so she let it go. Then, it happened. That burning. That pressing on her chest that became a fire that blazed through her and came out right behind her eyes. Elorelei knew she would never cry for someone who she didn't care about. Legolas, standing there, looking completely indifferent, didn't look like someone who she'd care about. She couldn't look at him anymore and turned away as if he'd slapped her. She privately wished he had, feeling the tears dropping, but not visibly. And she thought she could be happy without Andulin.

Legolas felt his heart tighten. She wasn't angry, it was worse than that. She was hurt. Elorelei swallowed and looked at him through stinging eyes. It would've pained him less if she had killed him.

Filior watched his sister walk out, her head not bowed or held up high. Just steady. The herb wore off and he shot up.

Legolas was too stunned to notice that Filior was heading his way until it was too late. The Prince had him by the neck.

"You go after my sister and you TELL her you love her. Or your throat will meet my sword and it will have a **VERY **bad first impression." His threat was true enough. The Western Prince sprinted from the room as soon as the Eastern Prince let him go.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Elorelei had not gotten far. Halfway to her room, she decided it wasn't worth it. She'd seen this happen before. She'd lose respect for everything, get reckless, get sick, and eventually die of a broken heart. Some little voice inside of her muttered, _I always fancied I would die in battle._

She didn't listen to it but covered her face with her hands, feeling no desire to go back to the ball, or to her room. Feeling nothing except the overwhelming wish to die right then.

"Elorelei?"

__

Don't look up. Don't do that to yourself... She didn't move a muscle, she knew who it was.

Legolas bit his lip, hard. It was impossible to say what he needed to say if she wasn't looking at him. it was of her own accord when she finally looked up. Legolas hadn't realized it, but he had been holding his breath.

"I came to-"

"Shut up," She said quietly, almost in a whisper. Legolas shrank back, wounded, not saying anything. Elorelei dropped her hands slowly off her face, her fair skin streaked with tears. "Just shut up," She ordered. 

Legolas predicted what she was about to do. _Go ahead, hit me. Give me all you have. I owe you that much._

She raised a hand as if to strike him, but instead wrapped it around it and kissed him. It wasn't soft or perfect like their first one. It was something that she had buried inside her and suddenly freed without warning. Somewhere, in the mixed up whirl of the touch of her hands and feeling her damp cheeks against his face, Legolas responded with his own buried feelings. He felt as The kiss progressed slowly, neither of them wanting to let each other go. When it finally did, the feeling didn't leave.

"Elor-"

"No," She said swiftly. "You're not going to talk. You're going to listen," The command succeeded in quieting him, and she blew out a breath. "I'm going to tell you this once and only once. When we were younger, living at the Castle, I knew I liked you. When you won the archery tournament just before graduation, I knew I cared about you. But when my father told me I was being first to marry, all I thought was _'Legolas_.' It had never even crossed my mind to marry anyone else, and my father knew that. But when I found out he did, I got scared. I didn't know what the feeling was, and if it was serious, I felt sure it was one sided. Besides, you never expressed anything except for friendship towards me. And everytime you did, I felt... things I didn't know how to decipher. Sometimes, I would look at you, casually, walking next you, joking with you, practicing, anything, and the look of your eyes would shock me. I always caught myself, but that didn't stop the feeling from coming. When I found Andulin, he told me what he felt and what those emotions were that continually came.

And one night, in total darkness, with Andulin's arms around me, I realized I loved you. Andulin died soon afterwards, and I thought it had been my fault. He knew about you all along, and wanted to die so I could go back to you. It felt horrible when he passed, but I kept on. I had no desire to stop living. But when you... you looked at me that way back there, I wanted to die. Not even the loss of Andulin made me that ill. Because I've loved you all along..."

Legolas was speechless, but he didn't need words. All he did was kiss her again.

**__**

*~*~*~*

Minele Whitecloud, queen though she was, was a very simple creature. Things HAD to be done the TRADITIONAL way. The father raised the son, the mother raised the daughter. Felair had raised both Elorelei and Filior. Minele tried to impress lady lessons on the female child, but she rejected every one, and her father let her. He even gave her a bow and a quiver of arrows. Minele disapproved, but never said anything. As for Filior, Minele was quite terrified of him. She had almost no control over how he was brought up and sometimes he looked at her in such a way, she felt an inch from death. He always blamed her for when he came home, only to discover his sister had fled from the kingdom.

Filior would be a concern soon, but not now. Now, she was frowning, trying to speak with King Felair.

"My King, I do think you should send someone after Elorelei."

He would have, if hadn't felt she needed to deal with this on her own. "And why is that?"

"Well," She did that annoying little sigh that was to mean, 'You're supposed to know already.' "I fear Legolas's intentions may not be honorable. And she has become a ruffian in her abscence. I do not want her to tarnish the family honor-"

"The family honor is no concern of hers. She left it because of your own sick desire to shape her in your image. Do not feign concern for her. She has her own honor now, to do with what she will." He snapped.

"You always have been too lenient with her-"

"And you have been nothing to her."

"I am her mother."

Felair scoffed. "Only in your wildest dreams could you produce a daughter of such caliber. We both know she's not yours. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He made it clear that she had no choice but to excuse him as he stood up and left.

Filior watched his father go, shifting his eyes to Minele. He never liked her and wondered how she could call herself a mother. He sat back and chewed on some vegatable, not really tasting it. "_If she tries to drive my sister away again, she'll regret it._" He thought.

**__**

*~*~*~*

"_Elorelei?_"

"_Yes?_"

"_How far have we flown?_"

"_How far are you willing to fly?_"

"_With you? To the stars._"

Elorelei was grateful that eagles couldn't blush. She landed in the next tree she saw, Legolas only feet behind her tail feathers. The Prince remembered flying as the best sensation he'd ever felt. Then he thought about being Elorelei in the hallway and having her tell him everything he wanted to hear... 

Maybe flying was only second best.

(A/N: Gag me blind with a rusty spoon.)


	31. Rumors

(A/N: WHOOP WHOOP!! I'm back! Miss me? Of course not, but anyway, we're moving right along. WOOT! I will upload the chapter with bolds and italics in a little while. For now, you must GUESS where they are!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! Oh, and beware. Elorelei and Legolas have a kind of cutely playful relationship. I think it's adorable, but eh. As Minele would put it, it's not "befitting of a proper elf." But we all hate Minele, now don't we?)

Chapter Thirty: Rumors

Time rolled on smoothly after that. Weeks blended into months and the end of the first year was upon then. Legolas put the thoughts of her leaving out of his mind for as long as he could. Everything would be okay. Like today, for example. Today would be a good day... he hoped.

Legolas rapped on Elorelei's door. It was almost noon and no one had seen her around the palace. They all assumed she was still in bed. She was. Not that Legolas blamed her. They'd been out very late last night. He was usually an early riser, but had slept until the sun was halfway risen into the sky. Even so, they had been out in her forests until dawn. Running through the trees, flying, talking, and savoring each other's company. No one answered his knock, so he did it again.

There was a small grunt of response from inside the room.

Legolas knocked once more.

"Come in already, I'm not moving."

The Prince smiled and pushed the door open. "Tired, are we?"

Elorelei sneered and pulled the blankets over her head. "You needn't look so pleased with yourself."

He laughed and came to sit on the bed. "Eli wants to talk with you."

She yawned, the sound muffled beneath the coverings. "About what?"

"Let me see your face and I'll tell you."

The blankets rustled and Elorelei's eyes came into view. Legolas grinned at the smile in them, then pulled the rest of the blankets away.

Elorelei blinked. "Well? Aren't you going to tell me?"

Legolas was still grinning. "Okay, I'll tell you... I haven't the faintest idea."

Elorelei yanked the blankets back up over her. "You wretched brat prince." She said without conviction. Underneath the blankets, she felt a heavy body lay down across her stomach. "I'll say it again. You wretched brat prince."

He laughed but didn't move. "You don't want to get up? I'll make sure you don't."

She struggled against him for a while, his muscle density being more than hers, but in the end, a poke in the ribs got him off. "That ought to teach you, Princey."

"I've learned nothing, Princess,"said Legolas stubbornly. "Now come. You've missed breakfast. For you to miss lunch goes against all the laws of nature."

Elorelei shook her head in an amused gesture and pushed a wave of hair out of her way. "I've sword fighting to practice with Filior in a few hours anyway. I'll deal with Eli before then." She conceded, making to get out of the bed. Then she looked at Legolas, a mischievous look in his ice blue eyes. "Legolas Greenleaf, if you don't leave at once..."

He gave a small laugh and kissed her lightly. "I'm going. I'll wait for you."

Elorelei's eyes flickered. "I know."

*~*~*~*

Eli covered his ears while the swordplay went on. Elorelei would be out there soon, but he could not stand that clashing metal. The former princess told him constantly that it wasn't so bad, but to him it was. Battle was not his area of expertise and he would never want it to be. Death was an art he wanted no part of.

"Don't know how you stand it..." He mumbled once again.

"Eli, please tell me what I'm doing here before I just leave."

"Where were you last night?"

Elorelei started for a second, silent. Then, to Eli's disdain, she burst out laughing.

"I'm being serious-" He tried to say, but she kept right on laughing, hugging her sides as if they would split any minute. 

She finally stopped several minutes later, wiping her eyes and sighing. "No, really, Eli. What's this about?"

He looked at her. "Minele is causing problems."

"I'm not surprised, it's not as if she has anything better to do." Elorelei muttered. 

"Elorelei, this could mean trouble for you."

"Oh, it's fine. Trouble and I good friends."

Eli glared while Elorelei smiled calmly, angel dust sprinkled on her face. She realized she was angering him and her eyes began to look saddened and ashamed, hiding the mischief that lay just beneath them.

Her huge green eyes looking for an acceptance of her silent apology won Eli over. They always had, which was one of the first reasons she attached to Eli like an older brother. When it came down to it, if she wanted something badly enough, he could not, or would not, refuse her. He remembered when he'd pet her head and show her the basics of healing. he remembered when she looked to him for everything she didn't get from her father, which wasn't much, but it seemed a lot to him then. All of those memories were encased in those teasing yet apologetic green eyes.

"All right, all right, you can stop with the eyes! I understand you're a little giddy at the moment, but please listen, just for a minute."

She grinned. "Yessir."

"Minele is spreading rumors, rumors that are affecting your current position. You may be discharcged from your duty of going to the mortal realm."

The ice cool attitude of the she-elf came back. "Nonsense. I survived The Light and they cannot call upon it again for several thousand years. No one would let Minele waste that plus two elven lives and the strength of all our sorcerers over rumors." She said curtly and quietly. "She has no power-"

Eli stopped her there. "Oh, but she does, Elorelei. She just doesn't use it." Elorelei raised an eyebrow and made a motion with her hand allowing him to continue. The healer was instantly reminded of a queen, but wisely didn't tell her so. "I'm afraid the nature of these rumors question your honor and your discipline." He said delicately. She was not going to like this, or worse, she would like it too much.

"And what's that? Have I supposedly killed innocent people? Did I burn a village to the ground? Or perhaps she thinks it was I who killed Andulin?"

The other elf shook his head, looking at his hands now. Why did he want to tell her this again? He swallowed once, then again before speaking, with many pauses. "She... made the... well, suggestion, I guess, that you and Legolas are possibly... engaging in... disreputable activities."

Elorelei gave him a very long look, as if she were trying to decide if that meant what she thought it meant. Then she said the one, evil word. "Meaning?..."

He sighed. "SheistellingthecourtthatyouhavebeeninvolvedinactsoffornicationwithLegolasandthatyouarenotinafavorablepositiontotakeyourresponsibiltyandjourneytothemortalrealm." He said swiftly, hoping she wouldn't catch most of it.

She did catch it, every last word. It came into her mind that she should slap someone, Minele preferably, but no one was available. So she settled for turning off her emotion of anger and taking a good long time to contemplate what Eli told her. "I see..." She said after a considerably lengthy stretch. "And how deep do these convictions run?"

"With your father and brother? Not at all. But she has managed to talk a scrawny few of the into having a vote."

The female warrior looked more like a queen than ever. Her eyes showed she was drawn into herself, daring anyone to disturb her. Her posture and and motions were lithe and smooth, but powerful, also. She held the world gently in her hands, but made sure that the world knew she could crush it with unimaginable force if she wanted to. 

"To be loved and to be feared, that was how she might be held by her subjects, one day," Eli thought.

"She's not a threat quite yet," Elorelei decided in a startling new voice. The voice of a general planning a war. "But it may be best to stop her before this gets out of our hands. Rumors are like weeds, they grow more unsightly the farther they spread."

*~*~*~*

"Legolas!" Elorelei voice's was slicing, commanding, or, for lack of a better phrase, pissed off. The Prince knew the aggression was not aimed at him, but to be in its pathway wasn't any better.

He stopped his practice with his daggers and put them away. The look on her face made him shudder.

"What happened?"

She didn't answer, but instead motioned for him to follow. They tracked down Vandelar and Elorelei gave him swift orders to contact the other men and meet her in the smallest courtyard. Vandelar had spent years with her, learning how her mood and tone gave more information than her words. She wanted this done straight away, but it wasn't a serious problem. From a slight drawing out of her order, he could sense that it could very well become a big deal. Vandelar may have made a good leader, but he was a better follower.

"It will be done as you asked, Laika," He said, bowing and referring to her in the name he knew her best by. For him, or any of the other men for that matter, to call her Elorelei would be a sentiment. Laika was not sentimental.

Legolas had never been around Northerners in a meeting like this one before. Elorelei had, and told him not to say anything for the first few moments except to yell and make threats. Legolas didn't really do those things at meetings, so he elected to just be quiet. Yet he did find out first hand why was supposed to yell. He wouldn't have been heard otherwise.

Eloerlei quickly and quietly explained why they all were here. She told them about Minele and her "rumors" and how the Queen could stop Elorelei's journey if she were not stopped. And the whole gathering exploded into an uproar. Legolas wished he had earplugs. Everyone was yelling and and saying things to the nature of "What business of hers is it what you do?" "And she calls herself the Queen?" they continued on for quite sometime, until Elorelei said, in a rather calm voice, "Stop."

Complete silence overcame them. It was more out of habit than out of willingness to stop, but Elorelei was as icy as she ever was.

"I don't want this to get out of hand anymore than you do. But if you do not keep your heads, we will be powerless to stop Minele, however idle-minded she may be. Fenra?"

One of the smaller elves snapped to attention. In his blonde hair lay wips of red and his eyes was quiet and crafty. "Yes, Laika?"

"Find out who Minele has talked to and what they believe is true. Tell it to me, and I will give you your assignment. If the rest of you hear ANYTHING, to not squander it, but report it to me immediately. Vandelar, see me afterwards, I have a special assignment for you."

There was something about the undertone of the meeting that made Legolas shiver. These warriors had been trained well, no doubt, but that didn't mean their brawn came before their brains. With Elorelei leading them, mind games of every sort could be put into play.

"I believe that's everything, you may go, just keep your ears open."

They all bowed and left. A small few who knew their Laika well were smiling. She was a masterful and cunning orator, and they looked forward to whatever she had to tell the elves of King Felair's Royal Court.

Vandelar looked similarly pleased. "Shall I?"

Elorelei grinned. "Of course, you shall. But remember, the most important thing is to have fun." 

Legolas hoping to find out what the cause of the fun was, but Vandelar just beamed and exited the room.

(A/N: Sorry about the shortness of it all..... but *gasp* What is my dastardly character up to now? Just to tell you, this chapter was gonna be much longer, but I figured I better just divide it up to keep the censors off my back until Chapter 31.

Censors: We resemble that remark!!

A: Riiiiiiiight... Note-to-Self, do NOT let censors watch Space Jam or hang out with AngelOnFire. Now to let you suffer another round of chapter-waiting torture.)


	32. Pasts, Pacts, Passion

(A/N: The rating has risen to PG-13 for implied sexual situations. Time to go mushy again. To quote Moulin Rouge, "It's about LOVE!" Deal with it. I do not write lemons, but it's not like I could with the new no NC-17 rule. Which I believe is bullshit, but hey, that's my worthless opinion. I also gave you a little bit of background on Felair and Minele. Just a leetle. If you wanna know more, you'll just have to wait for the whole series to finish. (See my bio for info on that). I suppose these next lyrics to ponder need no introduction. How Deep is Your Love by the Bee Gees. *bows down* I'M NOT WORTHY!! Sorry, I was raised on oldies. And the ever so godly Just Like Heaven by the Cure. Rock on.)

**Chapter Thirty-One: Pasts, Pacts, and Passion**

"Please tell me?"

"No, Legolas. Check, Grandpapa."

Elorelei was bent over a small board with checkered blocks on it. Over it, in a certain fashion, she moved pieces. It was some sort of mortal game her grandfather enjoyed called chess.

"It teaches logic and strategy." He explained while coaxing her into trying it. "The pieces I played with moved on their own, but I haven't had the time to do that myself. Those mortal sorcerers enchanted the silliest things. Once I ran across a flying stick, with bristles on the end. Called it a broom."

Legolas remained in the dark about Elorelei's wicked plans, but sometimes he caught her plotting in the halls with Fenra. He sometimes tried to tell himself he didn't want to know, but ended up pleading with Elorelei anyway.

"You'll see," She had told him, and left it there.

Legolas ran all this information over in his mind while the two elves, far different in age, but not intelligence, sat hunched over this small wooden board.

"Checkmate," said Lumaeus, not exultant, but not gracious, in his victory. "But you did have me for a moment."

"Yes, but too short a moment, I'm afraid," She smiled good-naturedly, then stood up to leave. The Western Prince wanted a go at the game, but he also wanted some time alone with Elorelei. It had been nearly impossible lately. Be it at night or early morning, everyone seemed to have an occupation for her. Though he had his own reasons for wanting her to slow down, he couldn't help but feel worried that she was running herself ragged.

So he was adamant, when he caught her as they left the chess game, that she take a break.

"Break? Break from what?"

Legolas folded his arms. "You know from what, Lori. All this training business is getting to be too much. You're didn't get any sleep until dawn this morning. Please, just go easy for half a day, at most." 

Elorelei stared back at him, not ready to give up yet. "Okay, give me two days." 

Legolas shook his head no. "This evening."

"Tomorrow."

"Deal," He said immediately. "I hate bargaining with your for your own well-being."

Elorelei tossed her hair (which was more difficult than it looked) and made a small noise of mock indifference. Legolas grinned and was about to comment (rather rudely) but Vandelar stepped up and interrupted.

"Forgive me, Laika and Prince Legolas, but Minele has... taken the bait." The Prince had never seen Vandelar so happy. Then again, the elf knew he was about to see a great spectacle. 

Elorelei bowed and her face became a mask of unreadable emotions. "Thank you, Vandelar. Please bring me my weapons and I will begin."

He nodded and left.

*~*~*~*

Legolas walked beside Elorelei, matching her steady pace. While her outer self was calm, inside, her body was like liquid lightning. She absolutely couldn't wait for this moment. She had been waiting for it for many years. She'd never forget what she learned about Minele that one day, and now everyone would know.

Fenra waiting outside, guarding the gates of the small courtyard against those who didn't belong. He bowed when he saw Elorelei approached. "She awaits Laika, with her supporters as well."

Elorelei nodded. "Good. I want them to see this." She wasn't sure if she could keep herself in control. Vandelar came and escorted her and Legolas inside, but the Prince seemed to have faded into the background, a harmless spectator.

Minele was seated in an intricately carved chair. Her three supporters surrounded her with various degrees of pride and fear etched into their faces. Elorelei didn't bother with her usual glowering, but glided in an unnerving way to the center of the room. 

It had been set up like an interrogation. The one chair seated at the center, with other seats hovering near it. The courtyard was dark for the time of day, as the evening was just emerging from its afternoon cocoon, spreading its wings of twilight over the land. The young she-elf was silent, focusing all her attention on keeping herself steady while this happened. As she planned, Minele made the first move.

"You can drop your façade, Elorelei, there are no secrets that I can't see behind your eyes."

_Oh, but there are. So many secrets that I wish I could tell._ "You see nothing except what you want to see, Minele. Even the sightless would know you are blind." It was not an insult, simply a fact.

Minele didn't see it that way. "Words will not harm me, Elorelei."

"My name is Laika to you. Only family calls me Elorelei."

"Need I remind you that I am still your mother?"

The air started to grow thick Elorelei's hate and anger... She had waited for almost all of her life for this opportunity. This simple idiot would not destroy it. "Of course you don't have to remind me... because you were never my mother."

The other elf's skin paled considerably and her supporters began to look worried. Minele tried to hold her ground. "Don't-don't try your petty mind tricks," She stammered. "You're getting off topic. You and Legolas-"

"Legolas and **I** have nothing to do with this."

"Liar! The whole court knows what you-"

"The whole court knows what you tell them, dissembler... The only liar in this room is YOU." Without raising her voice, Elorelei let the insults and the accusations slide smoothly off her tongue and into the room of stunned spectators. 

Legolas felt a chill travel slowly up his spine. A random warrior of Elorelei's shut the door, knowing how very personal this was about to become.

Minele's skin was paling by the moment. "Silence..." She hissed. "I don't know how you found out about that, you wretched child, but if you tell, I swear will-"

"YOU-WILL-WHAT?" screamed Elorelei, exploding quickly and suddenly. "Do NOT think I'm scared of you, Queen Minele... As if you could ever-"

Minele jumped up. "SILENCE, I order you!" Her voice was heightening, flying into a panic.

"Only the Queen has the power to order. Not her imposter, not her copy, not her... placeholder."

The other elf's skin began to turn almost totally white with fear.

Elorelei smirked, feeling the familiar rush of power and pride. "Something the matter?"

"You're going to tell them?" Her voice had become afraid, almost pleading, in a way.

Elorelei's smirk evaporated. "Tell them? No... but show them... Ah, actions speak louder than words. And magic…… oh, magic is a silent art that speaks like the volumes of time…… and rest assured that I am VERY skilled at magic."

"You can't..." Everyone tensed at these words.

Slowly, the former princess drew her sword. "ANY wise elf, any REMOTELY intelligent elf would know better than to speak those words to me..."

Quaking in horror, Minele sank into her chair. "Please don't..."

Holding the sword high, Elorelei looked at Minele with contempt, but inside her, she felt pity. This poor elf actually thought that she was worth killing. Legolas stood aside nervously, preparing to interfere if he had to. She didn't advance on Minele, or retreat, but struck the sword against the hard stone floor, the crack thundering off the walls... until they began to shake... The shaking didn''t stop, but grew stronger and the vibrations seemed to sink deeper into their bones.

Everyone was on the verge of panic, as they were sure this wasn''t normal. Legolas wasn''t concerned for himself, but for Elorelei, who was twitching and jerking, holding her eyes shut against some inner battle. When she opened them, her once entrancing eyes were skull white and beamed out rays of red, making her look almost demonic.

Horrified, Legolas tried to move, but the violent shaking of the room prevented him from moving more than a few steps. Even with all his graceful elven ways, he couldn''t get to her. 

Then, all at once, the vibrating stopped. The courtyard was quiet, as if the violent earth-shaking had just not occurred…… It was then that everyone noticed that the courtyard had disappeared.

They were in a different place, a bedroom, it looked like. Legolas realized it was Elorelei''s room, only much different. Dresses had been thrown in a pile on the floor, all of them torn or completely filthy. Books about archery were strewn everywhere, in varying conditions. Several looked brand new, others looked as if they had been read until the covers were falling off. A little child was sitting on the bed reading one of these books and looking worriedly at the door that led out into the hallway. She didn''t seem to notice that several fully grown elves were standing right in the room with her.

"Elorelei?" said Legolas, confused.

The girl sighed and sat her book down. She looked restless, as if something curious was nagging irrirtantly at her. She was very obviously a young Elorelei, about 300 years old (or ten in mortal years), and was waiting for something to happen. Then, suddenly, Eli walked in, startling them all to various corners of the room.

"Okay, Elorelei? Would you like to come practice on your healing technique?"

She shook her head. "I'll just wait for the baby..."

Eli sighed. "It'll be a while, Lori..."

"I'll wait."

The elf left her alone, but as soon as he was gone, Legolas noticed that familiar sneaking spark in her eyes.

The little elf peered out into the hallway, but Eli was totally gone. Her heart began to race with anticipation. She pulled out a very old book from under her bed. It was thick and dusty with age, the title reading "Thought Magic." Shoving this into a large scarlet bag, she ran into the hallway, the troupe of elves she couldn't even see followed her.

"Hope this works." She muttered, opening the book to a certain page, reading something very swiftly. She stared intently at the door and it slammed shut and apparently barricaded itself. Elorelei gave a little "YES" of victory, shoved the book into the bag, then turned and ran down the hallway, her small feet not making a sound on the richly carpeted floor. Vandelar and Legolas followed her, stepping almost as lightly as she did.

She led them around for almost ten minutes, most of those minutes were spent avoiding guards and servants. Finally, she came upon the room she wished to enter, just around the corner. There were several guards standing in front of it. Supposedly, Minele was in there, giving birth to the new baby. Elorelei just couldn't believe that. She pulled the book back out and hunched down right at the corner, reading. Legolas tried to read over her shoulder, but she shut it before he could get very close. Closing her eyes, she focused again. The invisible elves and the guards all snapped their heads to look down the opposite hall as a short cry was heard.

"Was that the princess?" Everyone asked, except Elorelei, who was smiling. She did it again, and they all ran off, leaving only one guard at the door.

Elorelei swore. "Ugh……" She looked in the book again, and then peeked around the corner. The guard was still standing there, motionless. Too motionless.

She dashed up to him and simply pushed him aside. Legolas was stunned. She had frozen him.

She ran inside and shut the door so quickly, that her invisible followers found themselves tumbling through the wall. Straight. Through. The. Wall.

Fenra nearly opened his mouth to cry out, but he stopped himself. "Great Valar, is this all magic?"

"No……" Vandelar said quietly. "We're in her memory."

With a hushed silence, they looked at the little princess, who was staring fitfully at the door. After she decided the guards weren't going to follow her, she ran down the hallway leading to the birthing room. There were short cries coming at intervals, but it was not Minele's voice.

She stopped short in front of a partially opened door. The light cast a tall, thin beam that Elorelei was standing just an inch from. Her father's voice was whispering in a soft tone; a tone he normally reserved for his daughter. It was soothingly loving. He never spoke to Minele that way.

Suddenly, the harsh voice of the woman Elorelei believed to be her mother interrupted. "Felair, can't this move any faster? The guards are suspicious."

"SHUT UP!" The King ordered, his voice filled with resentment. It reverted back to the sweet, soft tone so quickly, he sounded like a completely different elf. "Miki? Darling?"

"I'm okay, Felly," The voice was panting and tired. "He's less difficult than Elorelei was..."

The woman's face was hidden from view, but Elorelei noticed a dark ringlet of hair. It was the same color as hers. She examined it with a shocked look.

Felair smiled and pushed the long dark hair out of the elf woman's face. "Thank Valar for that..."

"My KING-"

"Quiet! I'll not tell you again! Your sister, MY WIFE, is trying to-"

But the elf on the birthing bed interrupted Felair's reprimand with a loud scream.

The voice of Elorelei's grandmother was heard sighing and laughing slightly with relief. "Here's your boy, Felair. A very healthy child, just like her last one."

Felair kneeled and kissed the woman on the forehead. "I'm glad I was here for this one..."

"Good, when can she leave that child and get out of here?" Minele again. "As if her worthless brat daughter wasn't causing me enough stress..." There was more, but it was not heard by the eavesdropper.

Elorelei clamped her hands over her mouth to hold in her scream. The woman on the bed was her mother... the real queen... Her world was spinning, swirling, blinding her while she could still see. Her lips softly formed the words that voiced everything running through her mind. 

_"Why?"_

Why was her mother's true identity kept from her? Why did Minele take this elf's place? If this one was born here, why wasn't she?

Unable to take anymore, Elorelei dashed back down the hallway, burst out from the door, knocking over several guards as she went. She didn't care anymore. They would keep quiet to keep their jobs. How would it look if the young princess had gotten past their seemingly unwavering guard? No, she didn't have to worry about them.

Her invisible comrades followed her all the back to her room, where the door swung open even without her hard focused look. It seemed as if her emotions merely blasted it open with the shock of her discovery.

Minele was not her mother. That was it's own small comfort. 

But if that was not her mother, who was? Who was that elf on the bed? Would she ever know?

Without so much as a ripple, the elves that had observed this young child's trauma, appeared back in the courtyard. Not even a shift in air alerted them to this, it simply happened.

Minele was crouched on the ground, with Elorelei holding her with the point of her sword. The elf was a pathetic sight to see, whimpering and crying at her "daughter"'s feet. Legolas walked up to Elorelei, encasing her in a warm hug, forcing her to lower her sword.

"You can tell your little support group... that this worthless brat daughter will here no more or your trash and your lies. And you will hold your tongue in court. And you will never give my family one slight of grievance. Or I will make you regret it. Valar help me, I WILL make you regret it."

Minele nodded, but saw the expectancy in Elroelei's eyes. "I will do as said... but I'll never tell you who she is..."

The warrior stiffened.

That was all Minele needed.

"Never," She repeated, malice drowning out all of her graceful elvish quality that she treasured so much.

*~*~*~*

"Elorelei," Legolas talked softly. He didn't want to make her hysterical, though he doubted he could. She was stony and her face was gray. Minele would never threaten her adopted daughter again... but Elorelei would also never know who her real mother was. The decision had been made and the pact sworn. To break the said pact was to sign your own death warrant, which neither elf had any desire to do.

Elorelei sat down on the bed, and placed her face in her hands. "I want to take a walk," She said through her slender hands. Legolas's expression went from worried to something softer.

He reached out and held both her hands, pulling them from her face and planting a warm kiss on them.

"Very well. Let's take a walk."

*~*~*~*

"I shouldn't have done that." She scolded herself. "But I had to... I couldn't let her get away with anymore-"

"Elorelei, you don't need to justify what you did. Relax."

She muttered something unintelligible, but didn't say anymore. Legolas smiled, enjoying the undemanding silence of her company. The walk was taking them farther down into the forest, along the strem for a while, then back into the woods. It was getting dark, but Elorelei had her eyes closed, trusting Legolas to guide her. That's what it was all about. Trust. Her simple, solid trust in him, and his in her.

Eventually, after she realized Legolas had not been walking for some time now, ELorelei opened her heavy eyes. "Where's are we?"

"The springs," He replied, resting his forehead on hers. "I thought you could use it, to calm your nerves."

She smiled warmly at him, feeling something like... security, but deeper. He owned her heart, and was guarding it with his life.

He left her on her own, promising to return soon, while she undressed and slipped into the water. Credit she had to give him, for Legolas knew her well. Her reaction to the warm water was almost instantaneous. Her hair was soaked through until it became as soft as silk, encircling her already warm body in a blanket of the velvet. She swam up and down the springs, for she loved to swim, and remembered fondly the first time she dove into the springs as a child. Her mind wandered off into its own little world so that she scarcely noticed anything around her. She was humming idly to herself, sitting on a low, flat rock seated under the water, and thoroughly rinsing her hair to get it clean. Legolas watched her for a full ten minutes before he realized he would have to bring her back to reality.

"Having fun?"

She grinned, in her current recumbent position, but didn't move. "Yes, very much so." She looked at him, her eyes sparkling with giddy at her abandon of everything. Her cares had melted off into the water. Her shells and barriers and defense mechanisms that kept so many out were all but gone as she laugh and dove under the water, hidden from Legolas's watchful eyes.

"Hey, no fair," He insisted. "Come out where I can see you."

"Come in where I can see you." Her voice was almost daring him.

The mood of the place was rubbing off on him. He looked down into the steamy water and saw a pair of flashing green eyes watching him. "The lady's request will be granted." He joked, disappearing from her line of sight. For a moment, she waited, but after a while, she began to get curious. Her head fully emerged from the water and she looked around, starting to worry.

"Legolas?"

"Behind you."

Whirling around to face him turned out to be a very good bad idea. Immediately after she was fully turned around, she was assaulted by his strong arms traveling around her. By his steel blue eyes that seemed to call out for her. By every piece of his soul that was so completely in love and so lost in the reckless, wild moment of spontaneity. How could she have left him? Hopelessly, she tried to recall what would've caused her to leave someone so... well... there was no way to describe him. He was just for her, and that was all she knew. Even with.....

Her thoughts floated away on a cloud of steam as Legolas captured her instantly and entirely. His lips found her jaw, her cheek, every depression in her neck, not roughly but not quite gently, either. Elorelei closed her eyes to the sensation of his body; satin skin stretched over firm, sinewy muscle and power and passion and energy. Discreet kisses had transformed into something she wouldn't, or couldn't, describe. In the most convenient definitions, Legolas made her feel that nothing in the world could touch her except for him. She was his love, and was therefore, his life.

All that may be said as for the rest of the night, is that Minele's rumors were no longer entirely false...

(A/N: Yes, dudes, I used the ideal setting. A steamy body of water. I am, in truth, a hopeless romantic. So SUE me. By the way, I'm glad this turned out this way, you would not BELIEVE the fights that wemt on between what Inspiration wanted to write, what my fingers wanted to write, and what my brain wanted to write. It was chaos, I say. CHAOS! Damn that was long, but we're winding it down, kiddies. It'll all be over soon...)


	33. Sonnet

(A/N: Not a romantic chapter. Sonnet is a cool word. I need no other reason. Lyrics to ponder are Let Me Go by Good Charlotte.)

****

Chapter Thirty-Two: Sonnet

Sword-fights were a common spectacle in King Felair's many courtyards. These were wide open areas, sometimes with sanded stone floors, sometimes just fresh, green grass. Occasionally, one would run across an older courtyard, weathered with age, that still managed to look prestigious and royal. In any case, they were a good practice place for guards, and good places to relax, depending on an elf's skill level. Normally, the fights were just for show, but siblings often have to add their own spice to their duels.

CLANG!

"Fencing," muttered Eli, massaging his temples. "Always with the fencing…"

The Prince of the East ignored Eli and focused on his battle. "Something wrong, dear sister?"

Elorelei gritted her teeth at her brother and stopped his oncoming blow with her sword. "Not at all," She replied, noticing Eli wince as their two weapons crashed together. "Why would something be wrong?"

"Oh nothing," He muttered casually, stepping in to attempt a flesh wound, but getting sidestepped, and turning just fast enough to avoid her backlash. "You just seem more... lax in your fighting today." Elorelei's smirk coaxed him onward. "Yesterday I couldn't touch you with the sword and now-" He block and swung the sword to slightly nick her wrist. "Well, I believe that speaks for itself."

Elorelei shrugged it off, having barely felt it. "Maybe you're getting better." She was quite impressed with his skills when she returned. She'd always pegged him as a swordsman...

"Or maybe you're just a little distracted. Could it be Leg- OW!"

Elorelei smiled, having given him a swift, but soft jab in the stomach, loosening his grip on a sword, and seizing it in the same moment. "Ah-ah-ah..." She scolded, wagging her finger in a motherly manner. "Don't tease your sister. She knows how to kill you six different ways using the blunt end of a fighting cane."

Filior looked wounded but stood up. "Since when did you fight with fighting canes?"

"I don't. I was bluffing."

"Another one of your more despicable talents," said a new voice from behind Elorelei; it was icy, bitter. The trees that towered over the walls of the courtyard began to sway as the weather shifted from calm and warm to a slightly crisper, breezy day.

Eli looked up, surprised. Filior narrowed his eyes. Elorelei made an unimpressed noise. "And you would know all about that, wouldn't you, Niqueran?" She turned around and faced her old "friend." Her brother barely caught it, but he saw something click. Something... very not good. Something that was definitely not in his sister's nature... Then again, she did keep secrets well... even from him.

The other she-elf looked with disdain upon the warrioress. She toned this expression down as she caught sight of the sword.

"So, Niqi, you finally wormed your way into a Royal Court. Who knew that in ogling every male in Economics, you might actually learn something."

"Funny," said Niqueran in a voice that plainly read she did not think it was funny at all.

"Do tell me what simpering Queen appointed you her representative."

This brought a smile curling around the court member's face. "Queen Minele."

Elorelei face turned from arrogant defiance to stormy hatred. "What?"

"Your little mother dear hired me. As a personal assistant."

A pause came. There was always a pause. Elorelei was still stinging and bitter from her last encounter with "The Queen." Then Eli watched in a mild surprise as Elorelei... well, lost her temper. She went red in the face, her eyes opening wide with rage. She threw the sword to the side, and her fingers curled. The healer remained, somehow, in a state of pleasant shock as Elorelei's fingernails elongated to become black, curved talons.

"CONFOD-"

"That's enough!" Vandelar crossed the courtyard as quickly as he could and stood in between Elorelei and Niqueran. "Laika, you must calm down... You remember the last time..." His voice lowered and the rest of the conversation went unheard.

"I'm calm, Vandelar, really." Elorelei feigned her peace as her eyes swept over where Niqueran's heart was located. One speck of blood... one speck and she would be content... nothing.

Which most likely explained why Vandelar remained VERY VERY not convinced. "Come, walk with me, I have matters which require your attention."

As he steered her away, she gave one last look at the scene she left behind her. Niqueran, frozen in fear, Filior oddly curious, and Eli still in a state of calm wonderment. The shell-shocked she-elf placed a hand over her chest as if something had stabbed her. Elorelei exited with a smile.

**__**

*~*~*~*

The elf waited out in the hall with a sulking expression that was a little strange on her.

"Come now, you can't keep me out here!" She complained to a door that was just not listening. "I'm too old to be punished."

Vandelar came out of the door looking very paternal, as if Elorelei were his responsibility. She was, but she didn't know it, of course, or she would have his head. He and Andulin had kept the whole thing hushed up so she'd never catch on.

"I thought you left those curses in the valley, Laika."

"I was extremely susceptible to provocation at the time, Vandelar, you must understand. I did not mean for that to happen."

The elf stopped looking her in the eye almost at once. His powder blue eyes slid away from her piercing stare. "Do you remember the last time you used those curses?"

She only affixed her eyes to him harder. "That was long ago."

"I saw the same look in your eyes as you had then..."

"I had it under control."

"Yes, but not for long. Eli and Filior didn't know what you were about to do. Had I not been there..." He paused to banish the image that crossed his mind. "If your resolve is weakening-"

"WEAKENING?" Elorelei shouted, very poorly hiding the fact that she was outraged.

"I am merely suggesting-" Vandelar stopped immediately and bowed in the direction of the courtyard he had dragged Elorelei from. "Prince Legolas."

There was no cough, no loud word, clearing of the throat to announce a third presence. The argument just ceased to continue as Legolas walked in, looking oddly determinedabout ... something.

"Leave us." He told Vandelar, in an outright command. Vandelar left before he knew what he was doing and Elorelei looked shocked. Then she smiled.

"Had to happen soon. I knew you couldn't keep that spoiled prince locked up forever."

Legolas smiled slightly teasingly. "Do you wish to bask in your un-ending knowledge of me, or would you like to hear what I have to say?"

"Bask," She replied, and let a dulled smile come over her face, as if she were resting in rays of sun.

Legolas smiled contentedly at her. He could't bear the thought that... but in all good lives, there are respites of unhappiness.

__

"Legolas?" called Lumaeus, striding towards the Prince with an assured grace. He had a confidence in his step of one who had lived through more troubles and beared more storms than any other elf still left in the Valley. "How are you, young Prince?"

"Lord Lumaeus," smiled Legolas, bowing low. The father of a king was still a high rank, even if you were the one currently in a relationship with the granddaughter. "Tell me, why do you always call me young? I'm getting on in my years, now, you know..."

"Ah, young ones always think they know what old is," said the former King, with that annoying voice that older folk use when they know something you don't. "Do you even know how old I am?"

It was a well known fact that there was no one Lumaeus' age who hadn't crossed the Western Sea by now. "No, actually."

"Good. I'd doubt you'd believe me if I told you..."

While she was still basking, the Prince reached out, taking both her hands. He didn't know why, but he had to be touching her while the happened. It was stupid, really. Stupid, but somehow necessary. Otherwise, he wouldn't get past the first sentence. She stopped "basking" and looked at him. Straight at him as always, she didn't like avoiding his eyes without a good reason.

"Elorelei, I talked with your grandfather this afternoon..."

__

"The Conversion is in very few weeks, Legolas."

He shifted his gaze, suddenly deciding that a small bug, fuzzy and with several legs, was much more interesting to focus on. "I know," He replied, conveniently forgetting that in a civilized conversation, eye contact was required.

"Maintain eye contact, Legolas, it's much less degrading for you that way."

"Forgive me, your highness, may we talk about this some other time?"

Lumaeus looked both bemused and stern. When a former king brought up a subject of importance, by default, it could NOT be discussed ay other time unless said so. Legolas knew also not to look away in such a discussion, as it was considered disrespectful. The subject just repulsed him so that-

"Certainly not. Now, I'm afraid, I must insist."

"Insist on what?"

Legolas wasn't sure, but he thought Lumaeus paused then just for the effect.

"Your parents are wondering why you've been here for so long. They are needing your assistance at home, it appears."

The Prince flushed. He had written to them, once or twice, explaining his situation... just not clearly.

"The ceremony for Conversion is soon..."

Elorelei looked confused. "Yes, that's true..."

"My parents... they want me home before then... There is a troupe in Northern lands that I am to join... They head off the day before the Conversion and… I don't want to, but it's very important." He waited, dreading her reaction. Waiting for someone to lash out at you in anger was not a pleasant thing.

The she-elf tilted her head to one side, and responded simply, "Say no."

Legolas froze, then straightened up, cleared his throat, and looked politely shocked. "Hmm?"

"Say no," She repeated. "What's the worse they can do?"

__

"Judging by the... loose terms they used describing my granddaughter," The elder's eyes flashed dangerously. "I should hope that they have not learned of your relationship with her."

That, thank goodness, was true. They didn't know, and if Legolas continued to have things his way, they wouldn't know for a long while.

To answer Elorelei's question, there wasn't much they COULD do. Cast him out? The East would welcome him with open arms. Disinherit him? The South had told him often that he would always have a high place in their court. Hold him in the castle? Elorelei had more than eleven skilled elves and the North would soon be in her debt after the conversion... No fortress could keep them out.

"I... I can't..."

Her smile faded. Remembering her long black talons she had almost used on Niqueran, they appeared to have sunk themselves into her own body. 

Again, the desire to be stupid and ask foolish questions resurfaced like a black bubble of self-doubt. "Why? Don't you love me?" She wanted to ask, but that was a question to which she already had an answer.

The Prince wanted to say yes; he wanted to stay here with her until the last moment and he wanted to be here when she got back. He wanted a lot of things he couldn't have and was currently counting them in his head, searching for something he could hold on to.

"I can't, Elorelei. And I wish more than anything that I could make you understand… Do you remember when I asked to come with you when you first left and you wouldn't let me? It was something you had to do on your own. This is what I must do."

Elorelei smiled, not reassuringly but with acceptance, and looked up at Legolas with a somewhat hopeless but understanding expression on her face.

__

"I can't leave her again, Lumaeus. I can't not be here, when..."

The ancient elf gave Legolas a very long look.

"There's a reason we live forever, Legolas… No doubt, you two have had many difficult separations and moments where even the prospect of forever wasn't enough. Still it left you wondering if you two would see, or remember each other. Why make this one parting, brief as a flicker of flame compared to all the times you two have been separated thus far, harder that it has to be? She'll be back. You'll be back. You'll both be back. There's nothing keeping you apart except that fact that you both have duties to fulfill. Warriors always do."

"Yes," said Legolas solemnly. "Warriors."

(A/N: Yeah, I know. Boooorrrrring. Motivational speech number 666. Angsty part number 9999. When will the suffering END? 

Censors: Oh, shut up. You're overreacting.

Author: Bugger off. 

Censors: British swear word!! British swear word!

Author: Bullocks to you.

Censors: Another! Another!

Author……… Let's move on. "Limitations" (#33) is a cooler chapter, honest. I get to write more freaky shape shifting, and it's the breaking point. A little late in the story, but there you are. After that, we may have only one more chapter to go before this is over. Two, if I'm unlucky and Inspiration decides to be more of an evil crackwhore than usual. If it's not, guess you'll have to wait until the second installment. *beams***** It'll be great fun!! Oh, did you know I have THE cutest dog on this earth? I do, really. He is so absolutely adorable. He is the pinnacle of adorability. He has the awww-ness level of a HOBBIT! But he whines too much. *sigh* Old people.. er, old dogs.)


	34. Limitations

(A/N: tasha? Constructive criticism is SPIFFY!! *claps* I've already fixed that chapter. I just need to re-upload it. Two, no freaky shape-shiftnig. I thought it would fit and it didn't. Go fig. In case you're wondering, the lyrics at the beginning of this chapter are from "All By Myself." Why? The stupid song was stuck in my head. And no way was I gonna title this chapter All By Myself. This is sort of song-ficcy, so yeah, grit your teeth and bear with me. Part of this was inspired by Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful." Guess where and... you get a cookie. Maybe you get a cameo in the Weasley's go to America! If I ever get around to writing it. "Regretlessly" IS a word. I make it so. So THBT!)

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Chapter Thirty-Three: Limitations

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When I was young, I never needed anyone. And making love was just for fun. Those days are gone...

Elorelei shut her eyes tightly as the ice cold irons clamped around her wrists. Legolas had left very early that morning. He wrote her a letter, telling her everything he knew about where he would be going, the destinations and goals and everything important he could think of. It still seemed unimportant, even as he read it to himself. She was not going to visit the dwarves, or the giants. She would be in another dimension, through a hidden portal, in another form. Trying not to remind herself of this, Elorelei allowed herself to be led slowly down the hall, her feet moving lightly, while her heart sunk like a ship in the greatest part of the tempest. She kept swallowing to keep her throat open while it closed up on her. 

The room, the unnecessarily large room (Elorelei thought), was filled with the guests. Vandelar was sweating. Niqueran smirked triumphantly at her from the sidelines. Reminding her of everything that had gone wrong in her life. Everything that could go wrong. Despair was on her and she felt it's dead, rotted fingers closing in on. To kill whatever bravery she had left. The sight of her family watching as she walked into the arena lifted her spirits a little, but not enough. 

In her youth, needing love was a joke. What could it possibly be good for? The irony. The poetic justice. The whatever it was called that was making her life living hell. She didn't need love then, but she needed it now. More than she could've anticipated.

__

Hard to be sure. Sometimes I feel so insecure. And love, so distant and obscure, remains the cure.

They clamped her ankles and her arms and her waist. Chained her to a sturdy wall. Elorelei didn't want to be afraid. As the the sorcerors approached her, pity in their eyes, she didn't want to be afraid. They started working, muttering incantations and covering her with a bitter type of salve. She had been ordered to keep her mind focused on something very strong inside her, very present. Something that could comfort her. She wasn't very concerned with it, until a glowing green wall appeared between her and the crowd in the room. Between her and her family, leaving her alone. She bit her lip and held in her panic... with a very weak will. She was going to break. No, not break... explode. Inside, her body was crackling lightning and dynamite. She couldn't do it. She cried out to make it stop, but her voice had gone. She looked for her family, but the glow was too bright.

A voice that sounded like an echo said, "She's not taking to it!"

"Keep going."

__

All by myself. Don't wanna be all by myself... anymore.

The crackling was all over. Explosions bursted beneath her skin, and they wanted to keep going? "No! Don't let them! Make it stop!" Her voice was gone. Her focus was gone. Her hope was gone. She attempted again, the focusing. Something had to make it stop. Legolas. Legolas made it fade, but it didn't stop. Her skin was like molten rocks. Not just skin, everywhere! Bubbling, burning, smoldering, stinging fire!! Every breath she took scalded her lungs. The fire flared and charred, turning her skin to ashes. She was going to die. Yes. She was going to die. She wept embers and hoped they would bury her body before Legolas found out. He couldn't see her like this. 

The fire raged on and Elorelei lay limp, screaming into nothingness, but she was dying. It was fading, little by little. Her death would be slow and horrific, but she WOULD die. Her only comfort lay in that. She would die alone. In the presence of two dozen elves, she would die alon- Then she had a horrible thought. Legolas. He would be alone also. He'd come back and she would be dead. This revalation made her ill. She couldn't allow that. Let Legolas live a half life, because she could not hold on. The fire had been dying, but now it was coming back, she had to start thinking before it got too bad and she'd back to where she started.

The eagle. The old woman had said it would have an effect. Now it was time to see. Death was still hovering near like an insect, so her transformation was slow and difficult... and the shrinking was missing... The fire was nothing now. She just had to control her beast... Control.

*~*~*~*

The eagle was huge, it's wings spread the length of the entire room. It shrieked and tried in vain to get up in the air, but the room was too cramped for it. 

"She knows she can't move, why is she trying to fly?" Filior shouted as wind from her wings sent elves blowing backwards. The eagle snapped at one of those trying to flee, it's eyes intent on it's prey...

"Filior!! I'm talking to you!! What's happened to her?! Can you hear me?!" Felair found his son unreachable, as the Prince watched his sister, his face screwed up in horror and frustration. Then realization dawned.

"It's too big for her!! GET OUT!! She doesn't have control of it!!" He resorted to shoving his father, but Felair wasn't leaving.

"That's my daughter!" He screamed, but Filior had surpassed him strength-wise, and inevitably, he would be out the door, whether he liked it or not.

Many were getting out quivers of arrows, they were going to shoot it down... Felair opened his mouth to order them to cease, but a voice rang out moments before his.

"NO!!! Leave it!!" The elf moved swiftly through the chaos, snatching weapons as he went. "Eli, now!"

"_Immobulus!!_" cried Elihar, and the very fabric of time seemed to slow down. The other elf was still moving, and Felair could only watched as the Legolas (because that's who it was) tossed something into the mouth of the great raptor, it's beak open in a cry, but stopped by Eli's spell.

A split second later, Elorelei lay, barely breathing, on the floor. She wasn't moving and Legolas looked worried as he sat beside her, lifting her body into his lap.

The sorcerer's looked at each other, slightly embarrassed they hadn't thought of the freezing spell to begin with.

"Elorelei, can you hear me?" Legolas was still holding her, waiting for Eli to think of something that would wake her.

"Sleeping beauty," said Lumaeus, approaching slowly.

The Western Prince looked confused. "What?"

"Kiss her," He ordered. "She'll wake."

Legolas was more than happy to oblige.

Seconds after their lips parted, Elorelei's eyes flew open. She took slow, deliberate breaths and clutched Legolas's arm, looking nothing short of terrified.

"It's okay, Lori, I'm right here."

She didn't hear him; she was swallowing deep breaths of air and touching her skin in wonder.

"It worked," she said finally.

"What wor-" He paused and looked more closely at her, holding her still as she started trembling. "Oh, no..."

"It worked. I can feel it... dying. It's dying."

"What's dying?"

"IT." She repeated with unheard tones of horror and disgust. "This... this-this body! It's dying and I can feel it! ... every second passes like waves receding on the sand... It's dying..."

She spent all afternoon in her room, muttering about how it was dying. "Its skin ages now... From the outside in, it withers. Slowly, so slowly. Death comes to it with deliberate steps, but it does not hearken. It cannot."

Legolas stayed by her, even into the evening. No one asked how he had come to be there after he had ridden so hard from the dawn. Her whispers carried in the dark, and sometimes she would fumble, shut her eyes, and fight the tears. Not once did she say "_I am dying._" Always "_It is dying. It is dying and nothing can be done._"

*~*~*~*

It was midnight and Legolas was still awake, watching her in her new form. He noticed the changes happening in her with a resentful eye. The beautiful black of her hair was fading to a strange brown, it's length shortened as time passed. Her skin was rougher to the touch, and had ceased its natural glow. Feature by feature, the magic robbed her of her elfhood. Legolas was almost furious by the time she woke up.

"Legolas?"

He sprang immediately to her, comforted by the fact that her voice was the same.

"Yes? Elorelei, are you alright?"

She shook her head. "No, of course not. But I'm not in any present danger, if that's what you're asking."

He nodded, wondering when would be the right time to show her what the magic had done.

"You didn't meet the Northern riders." She stood up and squeezed his hand, thanking him and scolding him at the same time.

"I met them halfway. They were on their way down here to come for me. My parents... made some misjudgments."

"Indeed," said Elorelei bitterly. She was as silent as a grave for the next couple of minutes. Legolas peered at her face in the pale moonlight and saw tears.

"No, don't cry-"

Elorelei started. "Don't cry? Don't CRY? Look at me!! As plain and as mortal as if I had been born this way! My magic resting deep inside me where I cannot reach it. My being walking towards it's doom. Frail, vulnerable, unprotected. Do you know what it's like?! DO YOU?!"

Legolas reached out to stop her, gripping her by shoulders. He felt the absence of magic, and was sympathetic, but she could not go on that way. "No, I don't know, because I didn't put my strength and my life on the line to make a journey to a world unknown to me. I didn't survive the Light that killed as regretlessly as the ocean. You despair, Elorelei, but think of what you have achieved. You know our universes are connected, that we need balance. As firstborn, it's our duty to watch over them, but we are worlds apart. This is important. This is worth it. You're grandfather did it."

"My grandfather is powerful and wise beyond any of us."

"And you think he began that way?"

Elorelei sighed and sunk onto the soft heather mattress. "Legolas, you are of a scrupulous mind and an honest heart... but you cannot possibly understand the... the emptiness."

Legolas kneeled before her, brushing her unfamiliar face, feeling his heart weighing down. He looked in her eyes, seeing his reflection... in pools of melted gold. Her eyes had changed, too.

"Don't look at me," She said, tearing herself away from his touch. She knew she was different now, and from the look she saw in his face, she knew just how different. The pain of the change had made her insecure, and she was never more ashamed of it. Even as Legolas wrapped his arms around her, hands in her hair.

"Elorelei, listen to me. The way you feel is passing or preparing to. Consumed in your despair, you can't even see... How it feels like the day you left me."

She was trying not to listen, trying to convince herself is words and his touch didn't help. But they did. 

"I love you, Elorelei, I feel your emotions, your pain. The emptiness you feel... sometimes I think it's you who doesn't understand. Things won't always be perfect, and they won't always be miserable either. Just don't close the ones who love you out of your life. Don't close me out. Not again."

She closed her eyes. "I can't do it."

"Elorelei... Le vanya, tulka. Si raumo tuluva ar le náva ikolinda, melmenya. Er saira ta le láer." (You are beautiful, strong. This storm will come and you will be the bearer of it, my love. But know that you are not alone.)

Legolas couldn't say anything more to comfort her, so he brought her to the bed and lay beside her. Watched her fall into a deep sleep, holding her as close as he could, the Prince spent the night that way.... because tomorrow would be one of the hardest days of his life, for all the wrong reasons.

(A/N: I love my dog. I've said that before, but I really do. I write better with him there... okay, until someone can explain to my why melamin means "my love" I refuse to use it. NO BANDWAGON HOPPING THERE, MY FRIENDS! One more chapter to go. Sorry folks, all aboard the fanfiction train, it's headed back to reality in this case. See ya'll next chapter. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to put in. (Hey, I'm no Superman... heh, Scrubs joke. Ya get it? Ya get it? No? Fine...) You'll have to wait a while to get it explained, but I trust most have you put two and two together and know who Elorelei's mom is. That way I don't have to overwork on that. See ya'll in the next, and final, chapter.)


	35. Given To Fly

(A/N: Last run! Enjoy it! Listen to Nirvana! Seriously. I mean it. Go get the CD. NOW. And get some Three Doors Down while you're at it.)

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Chapter Thirty-Four: Given To Fly

Legolas was not about to go into a heroic battle. He was not about to face an army of irugus, or challenge an element demon. (There were only four and they were extremely bad tempered.) He was not about to do anything that remotely put his life in danger. Though those times in his life were upon him like wolves on a young deer. He was simply saying goodbye to someone. Not forever, just goodbye for now. He'd done it many times before. Sometimes he said goodbye most gladly. Sometimes he said goodbye and counted the days until it became hello...

Elorelei was sitting outside, soaking up the last of the heat before the seasons turned. They did not turn every year, but eventually, they changed. How long each one lasted depended on the peace and happiness of the Valley. The changes were hardly noticed, elves did not mind the elements. However, the irregularly warm weather to them was making Elorelei constantly seek shade and water. Legolas, brought her some while he was filling his saddle bag. The Northern riders he was to journey with were here. Not surprisingly, they knew the name of Andulin, his wife, Elorelei, and their riders. Elorelei recognized one, she had been a close friend on her adventures in the North. As soon as Legolas pointed Elorelei out, the elf, a female, bowed, saying: "Brave thing you're doing, my lady. Brave thing."

"Yes," She agreed. "No bravery without fear..."

She nodded as if recognizing it as a saying of hers. The elf, Mariellan, didn't stay for long, but rejoined her group.

"You'll like her," Elorelei said to Legolas, beaming. "She has a sure spirit. Even if she does jump into things a little quickly. I know the other elves, too. They're in good hands with you."

Legolas smiled. "And you? Are you in good hands?"

"I'm in my own hands. That will have to be enough." She sighed, and then she whistled very distinctly. "Here," She said, her eyes focused on the horse coming up to them. "Take Ilexim with you."

The elf gave a start, then shook his head. "I couldn't, Elorelei. His brother and mother-"

"Rydar is going with Filior on a few expeditions in the South. Iledian is staying here, in the stables. Her experience in the North was... tiring. As soon as Rydar was old enough, I did all my riding on him; Iledian just traveled with us."

Clearly, Ilexim wanted to go. The horse's ears switched back and forth and he nudged Legolas as Elorelei handed him the reins.

"Take him, Legolas. He wants an adventure as much as you do."

Legolas gripped the reins, but kept his gaze on Elorelei. "He's your horse."

"He's your travelling companion." She shot back. The debate ended as Elorelei heard her name.

She was being called. They were ready to go to Portalis Somnium.

"The time has come, Elorelei." Her father's voice was behind her, aching but strong. "The ride will be short and the Portal is already open."

She turned from Legolas, bowing to her parent and king. Minele was nowhere to be found. "I'm coming..."

He smiled. "Don't rush, Sparrow," Felair whispered to her. "They don't mind."

She hugged him tightly in thanks and didn't let go, gripping the soft fabric of his robes. No one was sure if she would let go until her grandfather placed a hand on her back.

"Come, Anta na Wille, let go."

She did, upon hearing her old nickname, release her father. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and disappeared to watch from a balcony. He could watch her leave a second time. He could watch, knowing she'd be back, but he couldn't stand there as she rolled away. Unless he wished to show another moment of indescribable grief, he kept to the palace.

Lumaeus remained, but his face was stern. "The dying won't end, Granddaughter. Everytime you are reborn it shall begin again."

She nodded in reply. "It's easier now... but I'm not... I won't ever be..."

"Accustomed to it? No, you shan't be. Ever... You understand how to keep the balance?" 

Another nod.

"Assist, but do not openly change. Do what you can, but not everything you can. Never break the spell without Eli present." He gave her a long look to make sure she understood.

All she could give him was another nod.

"And... don't despair, Anta Na Wille. The time will come when your work will cease and you'll be sent home."

She looked hopeful at these words, but doubtful. Lumaeus left her and Legolas stepped forward once more.

"Given to fly," He said, repeating her name.

She looked so small and simple at the time. She didn't look as if she could fly anywhere. "Yes... Fly," Her voice was that of a person who'd been backed into a corner with no weapons and no route of escape. A person who's hope hung by thread. "Fly alone. Fly to a land I've never seen, a land I've never wanted to see."

Legolas shook his head, laughing slightly, and taking her hands. Onto her finger he slipped a ring. The same one he'd given her last time they parted. "No, melmenya. Remember? ... Fly with me. To the stars."

*~*~*~*

Legolas and Ilexim watched her carriage speed away into the fading day. It was a long time before it was out of sight, but none of the Northern elves seemed to mind his staying. Over the last hill, the carriage disappeared.

Mariellan sighed. "There, my Prince. Isn't it easier now that it's over?"

Legolas looked at her, smiling broadly. "Over? No, Mariellan, I think it hasn't even begun..." 

Ilexim stomped impatiently. There was a lot of his father in him, and he longed for the adventure that he could smell was close. The Prince grinned and patted his new horse, then turned to the company, all facing him and acknowledging his royalty. He was born a leader and lead he would. 

"Allright then... Let's to the North, while it is still daylight. I know a forest where we can camp off road, there are..."

So Legolas came into his own. Elorelei adapted to her new surroundings and I would like to say she completed her appointed task. But that is a story for another time and place. I'll tell you it later, of course. About how a task was done and a price was paid. And how, because the tale was no fairy tale, no one lived happily ever after... but like I said, that's a story for a later time. This story has ended. See for yourself...

The End.

(A/N: Okay, before I respond to my reviews, I have to say TWO things. One... This is what Felair REALLY wanted to say when he called Elorelei his sparrow. "What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?" Two... Legolas wanted to say "To Narnia and the North!!" Which is why you NEVER let your musies do all the thinking when you're writing... K! I'm done!

AngelOnFire- I need to know what's another funny Monty Python movie. Because OBVIOUSLY I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Thanks for beta-reading for me! Ya-ya!

Alodia- Yes, British swear words are great fun. Yes, cheese is good. Yes, I should go check out your stories... Okay, you didn't say that, but I've just never gone to look... Wow, you struck me as a humor writer, but you have a lot of Action/Adventure here. Spiffy.

Angel of the Elves- No pressure, huh? Riiiiiiiiight. Well, this is actually part of a series so that should keep you happy. But I write slow, so that should keep you mad. Good. Am still evil. BWAHAHAHAHA! No, seriously, I appreciate it.

Getaway Girl- Hurm.... that's a funny word. It sounds Entish... Hurm... can I use that? I can annoy many people with it. Hurm.... Hrm, hoom, hasty. Thanks for the reviews!

Tara- I thank you for reviewing, but unfortunately, if you don't who Elorelei's mom is, I don't explain it until the last story. *winces* Sorry....

Megolas- I wonder how you've lasted, because in every review you told me you couldn't wait... just joking. Yes, there are sequels and plenty of them. I'll try not to upload the next story until I have enough to keep you from attacking me for not updating...

Lady Arabian Knight- Thanks for your reviews, they were really encouraging, but... every time I see your penname, the song from Aladdin gets stuck in my head. Which wouldn't be so bad... except it's a struggle not to start singing it.

Thanks to you all (and everyone else) for reviewing, otherwise I probably wouldn't have kept going. Special thank you to my beta-reader *waves*, who kicked me in the ass when stuff got too Mary-Sue for comfort. Emi-kins reviewed my story!! DO you KNOW how cool that is? *slams into brick wall* So yes, thank the elf sisters (Alodia and Megolas) Thanks to the people who reviewed the first half. Thanks to those who reviewed the second. Future thanks to people who will read my other... *counts* .... six stories that revolve around Elorelei and her exploits. If anyone does read them. Should I ever finish them.

Thank JOHN CLEESE FOR BEING THE BEST LANCELOT EVER!!

Okay, that has nothing to do with anything but still.... This is the end of MY story, I can say what I want. Sir Galahad RULED! *sniff* Stupid Bridge of Death!!

So, I thank you thrice for forcing me to be a good little author and get my story done. Until next time, folks. Thank you for coming. Your host for the evening.... Me.)


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